When It's No Longer Cliche
by SilverLily aka Blood Moon
Summary: A beaten and bloodied boy? A guardian spirit? But what happens when something is wrong with the character, and the innocent don't need to be protected? And when broken games become bloodied obsessions? A new twist on a battered beginning. YxYY
1. Blood and Gold

**When It's No Longer Cliche **

By SilverLily aka Blood Moon

A beaten, abused boy? Lonely and broken with a golden puzzle? A spirit who has claimed to protect him? …But what happens when the typical cliché is no longer cliché, and something is not quite right with the character? What happens when the innocent don't really need to be protected?

And what happens when broken games become bloody obsessions? A new twist on a battered beginning.

The boy breathed in again, his breath hitching once more as his tears became lodged in his throat. He hated when it did that, but he couldn't always control his breathing. Not with his pain.

A tear fell down his cheek, landing on the large hunk of gold in his hand. It mixed in oddly with the splatters of red adorning the smooth, multi-angled surface. It was a strange puzzle, and it had been taking his so _long_ to accomplish. He wasn't quite done with it yet, though. Still a few more pieces to go.

_Chink!_

He cursed to himself, angered at his carelessness. That piece of the puzzle had just become attached, trapping his blood in between. Of course, it wasn't the first time something like that had happened. But every time another piece fit in to place, he couldn't seem to be able to remove it. It was like a powerful magnet locked it in place. _With my tears and blood and I shall breath life into you…_ He just wondered what the dried blood was going to do to the gold. Would it harm it? He didn't know for sure. He'd never gotten his blood on any gold before this…

He shook his head ruefully, thinking upon a book he recalled seeing. _Blood and Gold_, by Anne Rice. _And so the sweet temptations of the night._ Oh, but weren't vampires such fun to read about? If only such deadly games could be played, and _he_ be on the winning end.

Oh, _no_. He was never on the winning end. He never would be, would he? He was a low, worthless sack of garbage that no one ever wanted around.

_Screw the world. I don't need them. People live alone all of the time and make do just fine. If they can do it, so can I._

He sneezed, and immediately regretted it, having to brace himself against the floor to keep from reeling into unconsciousness. His head was splitting in half, and he knew he was woozy from blood loss. He tried to swallow the phlegm in his throat, accumulated from his tears of pain. His ankle was still killing him, and he knew that his hip would cause him to limp the next day. _Bastards_, his heart clenched. More salty vapors sat just behind his eyes. _Why do they have to hurt me so damned much?! Fuck them!!_ He squeezed his eyes closed in heartache, trying to dwell on his anger. His anger kept him strong, and it kept him going. It was the only thing he had. If he didn't dwell on his anger, he would fall into a depression that he could never hope to pull himself out of. He was crushed, and crushed even further every time he was hit, abused, and lectured to the point of tears.

He did a lot of crying these days, and it was driving him crazy.

What was he thinking? He already was crazy! _Every genius has their side of crazed insanity._

But was he by any means a genius? Maybe. Maybe not. It depended on what one considered genius material. Games? Oh yeah. He could do games. He _invented_ game after game, simply as a way to keep himself occupied. History? He could rattled off any date you needed, if perhaps a few years off. Architecture fascinated him. Art?

He was the best artist in the school. No one could out-draw or out-paint him.

Math? Science? Logic? Perhaps not so much. He could understand obscure logic such as philosophy with ease, but other than that, he could never hope to be an engineer. He couldn't put together anything mechanical to save his scrawny little life.

_Chink!_ Another piece fit into place. He didn't even have to think about that one. Sometimes he wondered if the puzzle simply _wanted_ to be put together.

He stopped and set the large hunks of gold down. He needed to get some sleep, if he was going to stay awake in school the next day.

He liked going to school. It was a welcomed retreat to the wretched place he lived in.

Hiding his treasure underneath of the loose plank under his bed, he eased himself onto his pitiful mattress, hiding underneath of his thin covering. The batting was all but gone from the inside, and the cotton material was nearly see-through.

But it was better then nothing. And one day he would break free of his wretched prison. If only he could get enough food in him to gather the strength to fight back…

His thoughts were on blessed freedom and the numbing cold around him as he drifted off to sleep.

The blonde walked…or rather, _waltzed_ into the classroom, albeit begrudging the fact that he had to waste a perfectly good day indoors trapped in a desk. In truth, he felt good today. They were going to be playing football in gym class. When him and his buddy Honda got together on the same team, they had a blast pummeling every one who got in their way of the goal.

"Hey, mutt! Did you remember to do your paper?" _Oh, speak of the devil…_

"Yes, as a matter of fact I did. Did you manage to finish your math homework?" the blonde retorted. He already knew what the answer was going to be.

"We had a math assignment!? Why didn't I find out about this?"

He gave the tall brunette a punch in the shoulder. "Probably because you spent the whole time doodling crappy manga strips."

"Hey! Shut up! Those are gonna make me rich one day!"

"Yeah, right. Just like my dad is gonna quit drinking anytime soon."

Honda grew very quiet at that. "Sorry, Jou."

The blonde snarled. "Now, I told you! Quit apologizing! I don't wanna hear it!" It's not like there was anything that Honda could do about his problem. No one could.

Jou glanced around the now filling classroom, noting all of the people that were either seated at their desk, or up and about still, waiting for the bell to ring. One person caught his eye in particular, and why…well… he couldn't really be sure. The kid was always the one that was looked over, quiet, and usually seemed to prefer to be unnoticed. What was the kid's name again? Right…Yuugi. Odd name. _Who would name their kid 'game'? Of all things?_

Yuugi always sat in the back of the class, and always kept quiet during lectures. He never said much of anything, nor did he seem to want to. He was just…there, but not really there at all. No one ever noticed him. It hurt Jou's head to think about.

Yuugi was sitting quite slumped in his desk, his head resting on the hard plywood and his hands carelessly strewn off the side. He was starring dazedly out the window, eyes frighteningly glazed. He didn't look like he cared about much at the moment.

What happened to all of those schools in America? He thought he remembered hearing about it on the news…Oh, _right_. It was the quiet ones that were ignored that ended up trying to kill everyone in the school with guns.

…Perhaps he ought to say something to the kid? Let him know that he didn't need to go and blow everyone up?

Honda gave him a quizzical look as he walked past and up to Yuugi's desk. He stood there a moment shiftily, unsure of what to say. Yuugi didn't seem to even know that he was there.

"Uh…hey bud." Yuugi didn't respond. That glazed look was starting to scare Jou. Was the kid still alive? Is _that_ why he noticed him?! "How ya do'in?"

The kid…sighed. _Well, I guess that means he's still alive._ "I'm fine…how else would I be," he replied quite sardonically. A shiver ran up Jou's back. This kid was, by no means, all right. In the head, surely, but he could also definitely see it in his skin tone. He was starkly pale, bruises running up and down his neck, his eyes red and swollen, and his hair looked rather dull. He looked like he hadn't had a decent meal in days. _Months_ even. _And the teachers haven't noticed this? What's the matter with them!?_"

"You don't look so good," Jou stated tentatively.

"How kind of you to notice."

"No, I'm serious. You don't look good at all. Is everything all right, man?"

Pained violet eyes looked up at him, but the face remained stoic. "Even if it wasn't, what could you do? What would you _want_ to do? Pity me? Please. I get enough of that from religious rants from priests and pastors. I don't need anymore." His eyes moved back to the window.

A hand on Jou's arm pulled; bringing him back up to the front of the room. "Man, what are you doing?" Honda asked bewildered.

"I was jus' try' in to see if he was okay! He looks practically dead!"

"Dude, that's why no one ever talks to him. He's _always_ like that. There's a rumor around that doctors have him on every kind of pill imaginable just to keep him under control. Even lithulum!"

Jou sighed. "It's _lithium_ dumbass. And those are just rumors. No one knows if they're true or not."

Honda just shrugged it off. "Whatever. You're waste of breath, man."

The bell for class sounded, and he and Honda hurriedly found their seats, along with the rest of the class.

_Kawatta_, his mind hissed. _Why would he care about me? Seeing some lowlife down in the dumps. 'Let's be the bigger person and help out! They **need** me! Aren't I a good person?' Pah! He doesn't really care. Even if he did, he's a little late now. Best laid plans gone to waste. After all, isn't the road to Hell paved with good intentions? That's what the Christians say. Yeah. Screw them, too. Yahweh has done **nothing** for me._

Inside, Yuugi's heart clenched again. He was so painfully lonely. He wanted a friend so _badly_. But it was useless. No one liked him, especially after they got to know him. He was only saving himself from heartache. Keeping his tears at bay, he reminded himself again that nobody cared, and that nobody mattered. There was nothing for him to fear losing, for everything was already lost.

His mind drifted back to the puzzle under his bed, and he wished he could be working on it at the moment. It was the only thing he had, and the only thing he looked forward to each day. The prospect of getting it done. Aside from his anger, it was the only thing that saw him through day to day.

"Okay, class, I hope you all finished your research paper _and_ your short story that's due today. I'm looking forward to grading them this weekend."

_Liar. And yes, I finished mine two days after it was assigned. What else am I going to do with my time? Go the arcade?_ Shifting his gaze from the window, Yuugi pulled his paper and short story out of his bag and handed it forward, along with the rest of the class. That blonde that had spoken with him earlier grumbled something inaudible in his desk, slumping down as he handed the papers from behind him forward, only placing one of his own on the top of the pile. _You're going to end up failing the class if you don't start getting homework done…_

"Jonouchi Katsuya, if you don't start doing some homework in my class you are going to fail," the teacher began.

"Un, Sensei Aino. I will," he muttered.

"You said that the last three assignments, Jonouchi. One more, and I'm going to sign you up for an after school study session to improve your grades." The teacher's eyes looked at him harshly, and Yuugi had a feeling that he was wishing Miss Aino would at least blink.

Jou sat up instantly. "No! Don't do that! I will get my work done, I promise!"

Yuugi noted mildly interested that Jou seemed to be extremely on edge about going to an after school study session. _It's probably not 'cool' for him to do so._

Yuugi sighed, unheard and unnoticed by the rest of the class. _Just another day at school…I wish I had a new life. I **hate** mine._

"Jou, what are you doing," Honda hissed almost venomously. "We got a fight in ten minutes! You can't chicken out on me here!"

Jou snarled, tugging on his clasped arm. "Lemme go, man! I'm gonna follow him!"

"Why the _hell_ are you gonna do that," his friend wailed.

"Because I wanna see jus' what's up with him, ya mind? No one has spoken to the kid all year, and I for one don't want him to decide to blow us all up with a shot gun!"

Honda stopped short, contemplating this statement. Jou knew _that_ comment had to get his attention.

"Oh, good point man. Hey, I'm go 'in with ya. We'll deal with Ushiro later." Repositioning his backpack on his right shoulder, Honda stepped in stride with Jou as they began to discreetly follow Yuugi to his house…wherever that was.

The kid was walking rather slowly, not really seeming to pay attention to the rest of the people around him. He could, however, walk swiftly through people- he had gotten quite good at it as Jou and Honda were coming to find out.   
  
Yuugi knew that if people didn't see you, they didn't move, so you had to move around them, and the more quickly you could get out of their space, the happier they would be.

"Man, is this kid like a ghost or something, how is he moving so _quickly_," Honda complained, pulling Jou into an alley quickly as Yuugi turned around to look behind him.

"He's probably had a lot of practice," Jou stated, thinking about the strategies _he_ came up with to be quiet and move swiftly through his father's apartment so as not to disturb the unhappy drunk.

Taking a peak around corner, Honda pulled Jou along again.

"Since when did you take over this expedition," Jou asked incredulously.

His friend merely shrugged. _Typical answer._

"How long before you think we'll make it to his house," Honda asked quietly.

"How should I know? I look like a psychic to you?"

Honda scowled, but didn't respond.

As luck would have it, it actually wasn't too far off. In fact, Yuugi made a sharp turn…

Right into the low-rent district.

"Oh, man. No wonder the kid is never happy. Look at the neighborhood he comes home to everyday. This sucks!" Honda stated.

Jou agreed. He may not have a very nice home on the inside, but miraculously his father managed to keep an apartment in a relatively good district.

As Yuugi began to wipe his feet off on a door matt of a particularly ruddy house, Jou could see that he at least had that much. Except that it was not much better than a run down shack.

If that.

When Yuugi opened the door up, yelling from inside could be heard. Some foul language that would make a sailor blush filtered their way, and Jou noticed Yuugi shiver before he went in all of the way.

"Man, I feel really rotten," Honda stated. "If I'd a known he was coming home to this everyday…I don't know. I feel like I should make an attempt to help him out if I can. I see him get picked on by bullies and stuff."

Jou ran a hand through his messy mop of blonde hair. "You said it. Come on, maybe the arcade is still giving out free cheap prizes. I need to get my mind off of this for now."

Yuugi skittered past the entryway and through the living room. He only wanted to get up to his room.

"_The fuck's that matter with you bi…what the hell did you think yo…_" The voice of his father yelling at his mother drifted his way from the back bedroom, and Yuugi's heart jumped a beat. Hopefully they wouldn't catch him. Normally they left him alone so long as he didn't get in their sight, but if he got in their way…well. The puzzle had enough blood in and on it to prove that it was a very poor idea.

They were always yelling about something, and most of the time it was the fact that their union was a mistake. In fact, if they hadn't had a mistake and had Yuugi, they would be divorced.

Unfortunately for Yuugi, his mother believed that no matter what happened, if there were children involved, the couple should never get divorced.

That just meant that Yuugi was the Abomination that made their life miserable, even if they hardly ever saw him. So he did his best to stay out of the way.

After all, no one liked him. Why would his parents?

Able to bypass another beating for the evening, Yuugi limped upstairs and into his bedroom, feeling his stomach eating a hole inside of himself. He usually went without dinner, eating free breakfast and lunch at school. They usually fed well, but he was painfully starved by nine o'clock at night.

Feeling his heart flutter for the first time that day, he reached under the bed and removed the loose plank carefully, lest he make any noise, and withdrew his one prized possession. The eye on the gold box that housed the precious pieces seemed to wink at him as he held it close, even though there was very little light in his cramped little room.

His bed creaked and groaned under his weight as he sat down. He wondered how much longer it was going to be able to support his weight.

A gold piece felt warm and smooth to the touch as he picked it up. He loved this puzzle so, _so_ much. He was positive that it was going to be a perfect pyramid when it was all done. He didn't have too much further to go.

_Chink!_

The corners of his lips curled into a ghost of a smile.

_Chink!_

He didn't even want to think about what would happen when it was done. Then he would have nothing left to do, and nothing else to look forward to. No, he wouldn't think about that right now.

_Chink!_

_"Yuugi! Where the fuck are you!?"_

The young boy winced as he heard his father calling him. Oh, gods, what could he want right now?

Hiding his treasure under his flat pillow, he headed out of his room and down the stairs. His father was in the kitchen, standing in front of the fridge with his arms crossed. "Where the fuck is all of my beer? There's two bottles missing! Where are they! I know you took them!"

Yuugi stood at ridged attention. He had never taken a bottle of beer, nor did he care to. It was a ridiculous accusation, and his father knew it. He did _not_ want to end up like his parents. "I don't know where they are, sir. I didn't take them."

His father stepped forward, and he knew that he was going to become a battered scapegoat.

Pain shot through his cheek as skin made harsh contact with his skin, his flesh beginning to sting as the blood rushed to the surface.

Reeling into the counter, Yuugi felt his father wailing away on his back, and refused to let his tears fall, even though he kept gasping in pain and fighting back his cries. _Young boys ears are on their backs, the only way to get them to listen is to beat them._

_Damn those old proverbs!_ He thought to himself. _Damn everything!_

Falling to his knees in pain, his father kicked him out of kitchen with a swift hit to his chest. "Get out of here before I do more!"

Struggling to his feet, Yuugi stumbled up the steps as fast as he could.

Again, he was crushed. How could his father be so careless? So cruel? Was there not one good bone in his body?

Allowing the weight of his body to close his door, Yuugi tripped over his own limp and fell to the floor, now letting his tears fall freely. Something warm dribbled down his chin, and he knew that an old wound had been reopened with that smack to his face.

Grabbing his puzzle from under his pillow, Yuugi began to work on it again. He had to. He was going to go insane if he didn't.

_Chink!_

A drop of blood dripped down onto the puzzle, and before he could wipe it away, the new puzzle piece in his hand was snapped into place, as if drawn in by a magnet. More blood trapped in the puzzle. _From my blood and flesh you shall grow…I will breathe life into you with my breath and tears._

_Chink!_

His breath hitched. He got off easy tonight. _Easy. Easy for someone who has never felt affection…_ _I'm so alone…_

_Chink!_

His eyes were wide, and he was working with a delirious fervor. The hole inside of him was growing larger.

_Chink!_

Another tear fell into the puzzle, mixing in and diluting some of the blood that was still falling. A strange pink glow began to develop on the sparkling gold.

_Chink!_

Another piece sealed in place. He could never remove it now. _I don't want to live anymore…I don't care how strong I tell myself I am…_

_Chink!_

Yuugi felt around in the box for another piece and found it…empty.

Empty?

Yuugi looked over what he had done, finally taking in the full object. It was…complete. Fully and completely. But…what was he to do now? He was suddenly lost. After eight years of working on it, trying to finish it, and watching his blood fall into every piece of the creation…

He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do now.

The puzzle was so warm. He loved how warm it was. It was…bright. _Very_ bright.

Did it feel…lighter? Or had he lost too much blood now?

He knew he was insane when the puzzle lifted right out of his hands and began to grow brighter and brighter. _There's a fine line between genius and insanity…I'm just not sure which side of the line I'm on._ He knew now. His grandfather had told him ages and ages ago when he had last saw the old man that the greatest minds had tried to solve this puzzle and utterly failed at it. He had to be a sort of genius to be able to solve it, and now he knew he was insane when the puzzle began to levitate of its own accord. _Whatever happens now, I **know** it's not real…_

There was a bright flash of light that was surprisingly silent, bathing the room in a glorious golden glow.

Then swiftly it was gone, leaving in its wake a dark figure standing tall and proud.

Yuugi was dumb with shock, rather unable to take in what he was seeing at the moment. A person…or rather, a _handsome_ person was simply standing in his room, rather aloof of his surroundings.

The male in front of him sniffed a little, his nose wrinkling in disgust. "What a dump," he commented.

_Could he be any more blunt? One might think he'd have better tact than that._ "Not by choice," he whispered.

The figure turned to look at him, glowing crimson eyes gazing at him through the shadows of his dimly lit room. The eyes looked at him rather contemplatively, narrowing as the mind behind them thought. Yuugi was suddenly struck with the realization that they looked so much alike. "What is your name," the person asked.

Yuugi shook his head ruefully, looking off to the side and finding the dirty floor interesting. "Does it really matter?"

"Yes." The answer was simple and curt.

Yuugi frowned. "Yuugi. My name is Yuugi Motou."

The figure was silent again, thinking of his next question. "What are you doing here? Of all places?"

Yuugi sneered, disdaining his answer. "I live here. I'm not old enough to be emancipated."

The person turned and walked up to him, looking at him closely. "How old are you, Yuugi Motou?"

"Fifteen."

Yuugi suddenly froze when he heard a scratchy voice calling him. "_Yuugi, damn it! What the hell are you doing in there?!_"

The figure noticed that the young boy on the floor before him looked like a deer caught in the headlights, shaking worse than a leaf in a fall breeze. Pounding on the stairs ensued, and Yuugi couldn't tear his eyes away from the door.

The new occupant of his little room looked at him, curious at the reaction at first, then suddenly angered when the fear that was radiating off of Yuugi was practically tangible. Grabbing the boy's hand, he pulled him over to the bed, sat down, and pulled the boy with him. Yuugi was still shaking profusely, but did not fight the person off as he wrapped his arms around Yuugi and held on to him tightly.

When the person waved his arm, though, and a silver sheen clouded his vision, Yuugi turned to look at those bright blood red eyes in question.

"Hush," he whispered. "Don't move, don't breathe; don't even blink. If you're quiet, your father will not even know we're in here."

Nodding his head in petrified compliance, Yuugi began to enjoy the warmth that had settled around him. His room was at the north end of the house so was usually cooler than the rest of the house, but coupled with the fact that it was winter and his room was poorly insulated, Yuugi was usually very, _very_ cold. At the moment, though, he was contentedly warm, and realized that the body next to him was strong, and yet somehow soft against him.

_This isn't really happening. I'm dreaming all of this up, and my father is going to beat the illusion out of my head._

His door burst open, and the wild eyes of his drunken father moved swiftly through the room. "Where are you, you son of a bitch," he muttered, stepping in and looking about. His eyes landed on his son and Yuugi started to shiver, but the arm around his chest tightened slightly in reassurance, and he was able to stay silent. That's when he noticed.

_He's not looking **at** me; he's looking **through** me. _

"What the hell is he doing in there," the voice of his mother drifted from the living room.

"The bastard's not in here. He must have snuck out the window."

"Good riddance to him, too!"

His father snarled, turning to walk out the room. "Shut up, bitch! Nobody asked you!"

"Oh, shut up, Yogosu! I don't want to here it!"

His door was slammed closed harshly.

Yuugi let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, slumping into the chest that his back was currently pressed against. "He didn't see me. I was right in front of him, why didn't he see me?"

"Magic, Yuugi. What else could do that?"

Yuugi turned and looked at the person whom's name he still did not know, suddenly choking on sobs surfacing in his throat. Yes, he was still crushed, and yes-he was getting crazier. He was just depressed that such a thing had to happen to him. "Who the hell are you," he sobbed, his grip on the stranger's leather shirt almost lethal.

"My name is…well…you can call me Yami for now. I know your pain, Yuugi. I've been feeling it for years now."

Yuugi snorted, shaking his head as his tears wetted his cheeks. "How? No one notices me. No one cares. How would you feel any of it? Where did you even come from?"

"It's a long story, Yuugi. But I came from the puzzle. Are…are you bleeding?" Yami removed a drop of blood from Yuugi's chin, eyes wide as he looked at the red drop on his finger.

Yuugi gave a dry laugh, bopping Yami against his forehead softly with the heel of his hand. "Here's your sign. Duh."

Yami was silent as the obvious stupidity of his statement sunk in, and then he chuckled. "I'm glad to see that your spirit hasn't broken yet. You really are strong, and I'll be here now to help you get stronger."

Yuugi rested his head against Yami's chest, slumping in his pain and usual exhaustion. "And enter Ophelia. _Tomorrow is St. Valentine's Day…" _he began to sing.

"What is this nonsense," Yami questioned.

Yuugi shook his head. "Have you never heard of Shakespeare? Hamlet? Ophelia was in love with Hamlet, but after he killed her father who was eavesdropping on a conversation he was having with his mother, she went crazy, singing songs at random, and eventually drowned herself in the river."

"You think you're going crazy," Yami stated.

"Any other explanation you can conjure up for me that makes more sense? I must be dreaming right now. I finished the puzzle, collapsed in exhaustion, and am asleep right now on my dirty, cold floor with no hope for a better tomorrow."

"Yuugi, do your wounds hurt?"

"…They always hurt. Pain is something I live with all the time now. I can't remember what it was like anymore, to not feel any pain."

That was a dead end. He was probably still crying in his sleep with the agony shooting through his brittle bones and bruised flesh. "How about a bath, Yuugi? You look like you could use one."

Yuugi narrowed his eyes as he thought. "My parents have been coming home earlier lately, and I haven't been able to get showers very much. So long as I stay out of their sight, I avoid a beating."

Yami shook his head, and Yuugi could feel him bristling with anger against him. "They will not, under any circumstances, touch you again. I promise. They'll forget you even live here."

Yuugi laughed bitterly. "Yeah, right."

Yami scooted around him and got off of the bed, and the silver veil over his eyes, and the warmth he had felt, suddenly left Yuugi feeling cold and desolate. He shivered, hugging his arms to his chest. Yami extended his hand, waiting for Yuugi to take it. "Come. We're going to get your wounds cleaned."

Simply shaking his head and wondering when he was going to wake up, Yuugi took the hand, feeling the warmth returning to him. _Must be more magic._

Yami held him close as they went down the hall, somehow knowing the way to the bathroom. "_Put out the light, and then put out the light; If I quench thee flaming, thy flaming minister, I can again they former light restore, Should I repent me; but once put out the light,_" Yuugi recited with a bitter ease.

"What is that from, Yuugi?" Yami questioned. "And what does it mean?"

"Othello states this just before he's about to kill his wife Desdemona. He's putting out candles, and it's a reference to the fact that he's going to put out her life, because he believes she was unfaithful. I know that I'm going to die as well traipsing through the house while my parents are home."

Yami shook his head. "It's not right for you to have such desolate thoughts. You're not alone anymore. You haven't been, really, but I could not come to you before the puzzle was completed. The relic would not let me."

Yuugi shook his head as they entered the bathroom. "Are you telling me that you were actually inside of the puzzle?"

"In truth, I'm a spirit, Yuugi. I can go back into the puzzle, too. But at least now I will be able to move freely from this world and the spiritual world."

"So your some guardian spirit that's here to help me out, huh?"

Yami seemed to hesitate a bit. "Not really. Most guardian spirits weren't locked in darkness for ages beyond count. Aside from the darkness, every drop of blood and every tear that fell into the puzzle brought feelings, although terrible feelings. It brought feelings back into my conscious thought. And it's because of your that I'm able to be here now, to see, to feel, and to think. I'm bound to you, Yuugi, and I'm not leaving."

Yuugi still didn't seem to believe. "Whatever, _Ultima_. I'm just grateful that I'm getting a bath."

Yami decided that he needed to get a hold of the modern and perhaps even not so modern literature; otherwise he'd never be able to keep up with what Yuugi was telling him.

Yuugi stripped of his dirty clothes without a second thought and started the shower, hissing when he got in and the steaming water hit his sensitive skin.

"Are you all right, Yuugi?" Yami's voice asked him from outside of the shower curtain.

"Yeah…I'm fine."

Yami was silent for a moment before he answered back. "Liar. And we're going to get your wounds cleaned and dressed."

Yuugi had to stop and think about that for a moment. Someone that was actually going to be able to see past his façade? That would be able to tell if he was being sarcastic? He wasn't sure he knew how to deal with that.

Yuugi froze when the heavy pounding of his father sounded in the hall. Crouching down in the tub, he looked out and saw Yami standing in front of the door, arms crossed, starring straight ahead and waiting.

Yuugi couldn't move, nor could he speak when the door slammed open, and his father starred angrily into the small bathroom. Before the man could open his mouth to speak, Yami beat him to the punch.

"_You see nothing_," Yami hissed quietly. "_The lights are not on, the shower is off, and there is no one in here. You were just on your way to bed._"

Yogosu Motou set his jaw tightly, but turned around without so much as a sound and closed the door, the sound of his feet pounding down the rest of the way into the his bedroom.

Yuugi shakily stood. This all had to be too good to be true. "He…he's gone?"

Yami turned to him with compassionate eyes. "Yes. All gone."

Yuugi nodded his head, closed the curtain and went back to his shower. He wished that he could have stayed in longer, but he was dead tired and his scars were hurting under the attack of soap and steam, so he got out a little early, careful as he dried off.

Yami was rummaging underneath of the sink for bandages and anti-biotic ointment, pleased with him self as he found it. His brow was creased heavily, and his stance became more and more tense the more wounds that he bandages and dressed.

But there was one problem that he needed to check much more closely, as he noticed a line of bruises trailing up Yuugi's right leg.

Yuugi noticed as he followed the trail, and he held his towel closely. "It's nothing, don't worry about it."

Those bloodied red eyes looked at him harshly, and Yuugi realized then that he was going to have a hard time hiding anything from this person. Sighing when he realized he wasn't going to sway Yami's position, he repositioned his towel so that just his hip was showing.

The spirit next to him gasped out loud when a mass of black and purple flesh met his vision. Yuugi hissed when he touched it, and Yami withdrew his hand as if it had touched something painfully hot. "I'm sorry, Yuugi. I think that your bone is bruised, though. You have to let me touch it, for I believe that I can help to speed the healing process."

Yuugi rubbed his head. "Let me guess, more magic?"

Yami gave him a puzzled look. "Would it be anything else?"

Yuugi simply sighed. "_Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble._"

Yami frowned hard. "More quotes?"

"The three witches," Yuugi smiled ruefully.

Yami shook his head, and decided to get along with healing Yuugi. The moment he touched the skin, Yuugi cried out in pain, his hand quickly clutching Yami's shoulder and squeezing. A strange sensation began to seep into his very bone, as if small tendrils of electricity were massaging his aching and sore muscles and marrow. He shook a little, faintly reminded of a tickle.

When Yami removed his hand, Yuugi was able to open his eyes again, which he hadn't realized were closed, and noticed that his skin was not longer black and purple, but now purple and pink, with small spots of yellow. "It looks just like it did fifteen minutes after I got it."

Yami nodded, hiding his depletion of energy. "It will take a while to heal, but it will, and much more quickly." Standing, he offered a hand to Yuugi. "Why don't we get you into bed?"

Yawning despite him self, Yuugi nodded and stood, taking the offered hand and obediently following Yami back to his miserable room.

Grabbing a meager set of pajamas, Yuugi sat down on his bed, sighing as it squeaked and groaned underneath of him, and slipped under his only cover.

Yami tucked him in, but watched as he started to shiver all over again. "Are you cold?"

Yuugi almost laughed. "No, I like to shiver for the fun of it. Don't you?"

Frowning, Yami lifted to cover and got into bed with him, pulling Yuugi's back up to his chest. The warmth he had felt before settled back over him, and Yuugi was direly relieved when he saw that silver sheen over his eyes before he closed them. If he was right in his assumption, now no one could see him. "Get some sleep, now," Yami whispered into his ear.

"Yes, mother." Yuugi actually smiled when Yami gave a small snort into his still wet hair.

Yes…some of my other stories were starting to bore me a bit. Maybe this one will help to alleviate that problem. Review for me? Please?


	2. The Eyes of Dreams

**When It's No Longer Clich**

That morning, he didn't awaken because he was shivering with the cold. Nor did he wake up because his father or mother was yelling at him or beating him senseless. No, he didn't even wake up that morning because of his constant pain.

And this, in all actuality, never happened to him. Never.

So in every respect imaginable, Yuugi was profoundly shocked when, of all things to awaken him, the unusual sound of melodic snores resounded around the inside of his eardrums.

Snores…snores. Now who did he know snored?

Even more, who did he know ever slept in the same bed as him?

Eyes flying open, Yuugi sucked in a sharp breath, hardly noticing that for the first time in months his diaphragm didn't hurt when he did that, and turned over his bed. Strong arms held him almost lovingly, and as Yuugi looked up at the face of the stranger that was wrapped around him, Yuugi almost squeaked as loud as his ruddy mattress whenever he sat on it.

That handsome person from his dream the night before was sleeping soundly with him. _Did I dream him to life? This can't be real at all!_

Before Yuugi could even try to think straight, his muscles reacted for him, and he suddenly found himself on the floor, ignoring his hurting hip, and peering over the edge of his bed.

Yami jerked awake instantly, looking around him wildly until his eyes landed on Yuugi on the floor. "Oh…Aibou… What are you doing down there?"

Yuugi blinked once. Then twice. Finally…he blinked again. _Now I have a pet name? Partner? Partner in what? Companion? Yeah, a likely companion I'm going to be. I'll be the one saying 'Look out! The sky is going to fall! The axis is going to cease to spin and fire is going to rain from the heavens!_' The young teenager took in another long, deep, and slow breath, eyes painfully wide. "Oh…maybe I _do_ need some of that lithium. I think I've got schizophrenia developing."

Yami frowned hard. "Schizo-who?" Sitting up in bed all of the way, he offered a hand to Yuugi to help him up. "You've got to stop doubting yourself, aibou. You'll never be able to get anywhere in life if you do."

Yuugi took the hand, deciding that perhaps this was just one of those things that he wasn't ever going to be able to understand all of the way. Perhaps it would be best if he were to just accept it. Sitting back down on the bed, he looked over at the clock as Yami's arms wrapped around him again. "It's quarter to seven. I have to get ready for school, or I'm going to be late."

Yami looked at him curiously. "I do not understand."

Yuugi looked back at the dark spirit beside him, trying to puzzle together just how old this spirit might be. School had been around for _ages_, in nearly every industrial society on earth. For heaven's sake, even scholars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries went to University to further their education! "Yami…just how old are you?"

The spirit wrapped around him frowned hard. "How long has Khemmet been around for you? And the Empire? What is the current capital city?" 

Yuugi was silent as he searched through the vast memory bank of his mind, searching for that odd word. Where had he heard it before? Yuugi gave an 'oh' sound as comprehension dawned on him. "You must mean Egypt. Well…Egypt has been around as long as anyone can remember. Thousands of years. I think…I think the Old Kingdom is dated to be from 3100 to 2100 B.C.E. I'm not too sure on that. And then there was the Middle Kingdom, and then the New Kingdom. I couldn't tell you for sure what the capital city is now, but I can tell you that the pharaohs have been long since gone. And that the ancient city of Memphis was used as a quarry for building Cairo."

Yami's eyes became wide. "As…as a quarry?"

Yuugi nodded, unbothered by this information.

"Yuugi, how many years ago was the Old Kingdom? What year is it?"

"It's 2004, A.D. The Old Kingdom was over five thousand years ago, Yami."

Yuugi noticed that Yami seemed to be reeling, and there was no mistaking the fact now that Yami was, indeed, from ancient Egypt. _He's one damned old spirit._

"Yes…it has been a long time," Yami stated. He said nothing more.

Yuugi wondered about the small reaction. This was all going to blow up sooner or later, and he was curious just to see how the spirit was going to react to this blow. Even he could imagine that it wasn't easy suddenly realizing that everything one once knew was only an ancient memory. "Just think of all of the things you get to learn now. Your mind is going to be so boggled, you won't be able to dwell on the past."

Yami nodded, and gave a firmer squeeze around Yuugi's waist. Yuugi thought of one of his favorite books, and decided to recite some quotes. "_When one reads these words of one long gone, one will feel at one with one who was once…_"

Yami gave him a confused and lost look. Yuugi continued. "_History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake._" He looked at Yami and smiled. "Ulysses, by James Joyce. I swear that man was a genius."

"A nightmare," Yami reflected. "Yes, how true that statement is."

The young teenager began to reflect on the previous night. _It is because of you that I can feel and see and think._ Yuugi put Yami's hands down, stood and began to dress, thinking about what Yami had told him the night before. If…if he was not aware of what was happening in the outside world, and yet he knew what Yuugi was going through… _every tear and every drop of blood brought feelings…_ Was he…was he like a conduit, allowing Yami to exist in this world? He pulled his shirt over his head, seeing the spirit sitting on his bed from the reflection on his dirty mirror, gazing around the room for what must be the first time. In fact… he was even looking at the clock curiously, pushing on the buttons and puzzled when one of them brought up the time on the un-working alarm, and yet the others seemed to do nothing.

Yuugi moved his hand down his chest, suddenly realizing that there was something there that hadn't been there before. What in the world…

The puzzle was hanging around his neck on a sturdy chain. Funny, he didn't remember putting it on the chain, nor did he remember putting it on.

"Yami," Yuugi started. "Did you put the puzzle on a chain for me? And put it on me?"

"Yes, Yuugi. As long as you wear the puzzle, you will always have my protection. It binds me to you. In the solid confines of the puzzle, you are like a window into the outside world, and it is through you that I can see and feel again after so many years."

So his musings had been correct. "What about now? You have a solid body; do you still need to be with the puzzle? Do you have to go back inside of it later?" Yuugi turned to look at him for his response.

Yami nodded. "Yes, I do."

Yuugi was suddenly struck with an odd realization. _He is entirely dependent upon me. His very existence is because of me…_ It was a strange feeling, and even a little disconcerting, having someone rely on him so heavily. He would never mention this, though. Yami didn't seem the kind to reveal weaknesses. Everything about him screamed regality and strength. His pride would probably not allow such vulnerable behavior.

 As Yuugi turned to look at him, Yami stood and walked up to him, slipping an arm around Yuugi's waist. _There's something with the touch…always the touch._

"So, where is this school you speak of?"

"A ways…are people going to see you?"

Yami shook his head. "I will go back in the puzzle. I can still speak with you in your mind, all you have to do is think of what you'd like to say to me, and I'll also be able to watch through your eyes if you let me."

Yuugi shrugged. "Oh hell, why not? You're going to be bored stiff, though. School is really not all that exciting, but whatever. Come on, I want to make sure I get there in time to get some breakfast."

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Jou sat in Chemistry, twitching nervously. Yuugi had walked in not but five minutes ago, and Jou couldn't help but take notice. There was also something strange that he noticed, too.

Yuugi did not walk with downcast eyes.

In fact, after trying to recall all of the times he'd ever seen Yuugi walk, he didn't ever recall seeing the short kid's eyes looking down. And it wasn't like he was walking with pride either, it was just…as if he were simply…ah hell. Jou couldn't name it.

And then it hit him. _He walks without fear._

For a child who lives with abusive parents, this didn't seem normal. In fact, it was a miracle that Yuugi didn't have a stuttering problem, or shy away from nearly all human contact. Yuugi _was_ very silent, and usually didn't speak unless spoken to. And he tried to stay away from bullies, but hell, _everyone_ did that.

In short, it was practically a miracle that Yuugi wasn't broken by now.  

Honda finally walked into the classroom, moving straight past Jou and over to Yuugi's desk.

Now was Honda going insane?

Jou looked behind him, seeing Yuugi concentrating on his notepad that he was furiously scribbling away on, oblivious of Honda's arrival.

"Uh…hey bud," Honda started. "How's it go 'in?"

Yuugi moved his eyes upward, unfazed and apparently unbothered by the intrusion. "Fine," he stated flatly. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, ah…no. I just saw you get beat up by Ushiro a couple of days ago…and, well…I know he took your money from you. So…here, I got it back for you." The tall brunette slapped three hundred crinkled yen on Yuugi's desk.

Yuugi looked down at the money utterly shocked. "Um…thank you." He looked rather speechless. "I don't know what to say." He picked the money up and didn't count it, but rather looked at it. He suddenly looked up at Honda skeptically. "Why? Is there a favor that you want me to do, or something? If there is, you can keep the money. I'll go without my dinner for the next few nights." He put the money back down on the table.

Honda had a look that was a cross between anger and shock. "No! I was jus'  try 'in to be nice! Can't a guy do that these days?"

"Oh, there's nothing stopping the old code of chivalry, but surely you can understand my wariness on the account that I've never been on the receiving end of a random act of kindness." Yuugi looked up at Honda, unnerved that a male twice his size was starring him down.

Again, Honda was a little speechless. "Uh, sure bud. Whatever. Just…stay out of Ushiro's way, all right?"

"Yeah…thanks Honda. I really appreciate it."

Jou was surprised that Yuugi actually knew Honda's name.

Honda came and sat down next to him, severely ruffled. "That kid…jeez, there's something off about him."

Jou snickered. "It's that fact that he outsmarted you in normal conversation."

Honda looked indignant. "Hey, shut up!"

Jou rubbed his chin. "You know…I'm really curious 'bout that little guy. I think I can get a copy of his grades…I wanna see jus' how smart he is."

"Jou," Honda warned. "Isn't that an invasion of privacy? The kid would probably be able to plot our murders and never get caught!"

Jou waved him off. "You're paranoid, pal! Forget about dat! And besides…what he doesn't know doesn't hurt him."

Honda shook his head. "One of these days, you're going to get us both killed."  

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Yuugi wanted to cry as he looked down at his math homework. He hated math. He _really_ hated math. The Pythagorean theorem. _The square on a hypotenuse of a right-angled square is equal to the sum of squares on the other two sides._

He was never going to be able to understand this. The numbers blurred in front of him and made his head hurt. _I'm so lost! I hate math!_

There was a strange pressure behind his eyes, not painful, not aggravating, but it was just letting him know that the spirit now inside of him was looking at the work set out in front of him through his eyes.

_: Yuugi, what is this,_: he asked.

: _The Pythagorean theorem,: _Yuugi replied. : _According to the dictionary, Pythagoras was a Greek mathematician and philosopher who founded a school that believed in metempsychosis. That's the thought that the soul imprisoned in the body could be purified by study and following a strict discipline of purity and self-examination. He also discovered the numerical ratios of intervals in the musical scale, and believed that the elements of numbers were the elements of the world._:

Yuugi didn't know if he should be bothered by the fact that he could actually _feel_ Yami digesting that information.

: _May I use your body and give it a try,_: Yami asked him, the faintest hint of eagerness slipping through the mental link.

: _Be my guest!_: Yuugi cried. : _I hate this stuff! Numbers make no sense to me, nor have they ever._:

Yuugi felt a part of himself slip back into his mind and body, so now all he could do was see through his eyes, and yet not move his muscles on his own. It's like he was just along for the ride, and he suddenly felt very out of control.

Yami seemed to realize this, and sent waves of emotion that soothed him, and Yuugi realized that he had nothing to worry about.

Yami held the pencil for a moment, feeling off balance for a reason. It didn't feel right. Switching the pencil to his left hand, he tested it out, and found it to be much more comfortable. _Isn't that funny,_ Yuugi mused just to himself. _I'm right handed, he's left- handed._

 Yami looked at the page filled with half-complete solutions and theory analysis sketches, and started to work.

Yuugi was spell bound watching his own hands work, amazed as Yami moved through the assignment as if it were second nature for him. _And isn't if funny…I'm right brained…he's left brained. Complete opposites._

: _Yuugi, I don't suppose I could do this more often?_: Yami asked him.

: _I don't see any problem. I don't consider it cheating, either. The teachers say that we can use any information that we can stuff into our brain. You've basically become integrated into my very being…so I don't see it as cheating…what about you?_:

Yami was silent for a moment, and Yuugi suddenly felt himself thrust back in the driver's seat. : _No, I see no problem either, so long as you're okay with it._:  

Yuugi could have laughed out loud. Some deity up there was taking pity on him and cutting him some slack, for the first time in his life! _Praise Sakinah!_

"Mr. Motou, I don't see what's so funny about Calculus homework, would you mind explaining?"

Yuugi looked up surprised at the math teacher, Mr. Tsuki. The man was always grumpy, and didn't like Yuugi too much to begin with, considering the fact that Yuugi usually did very poorly in his class. "I get it," Yuugi stated.

"Excuse me," the teacher asked.

"I get it," Yuugi repeated, holding up his paper a little. "It makes sense to me now."

"Indeed," Mr. Tsuki drawled, walking swiftly up to Yuugi's desk. Oh, this was bad. : _Yami, if he asks about this stuff, you're going to have to answer._:

The voice inside of him growled darkly. : _I'd be happy to._:

Yuugi shivered a bit when he felt a mental grin.

Mr. Tsuki looked over the work, his eyebrows moving further and further up the more he read. "Where're your notes, Mr. Motou? There isn't any way you could suddenly get it now."

"I have no notes," Yami suddenly spoke, crossing his arms. "If you like, I can go and do my problems on the board for you."   
  
The class '_oooohed' _after Yami said this, and the teacher visibly frowned. "Why don't you do that, Mr. Motou?"

Yami stood, (proudly) and walked up to the blackboard. It seemed that the rest of the class was just as mesmerized by his ability to whip through the problems as Yuugi.

When Yami sat down, the teacher was glaring daggers at him. "Speak with me after class, Motou."

The whole class began to whisper to each other, and Yuugi wondered just what was in store for him.

The bell rang, and Yuugi realized that the whole ordeal had taken the entire period. Yami sat in the desk calmly as everyone filed out.

"Good luck, man," one boy whispered on his way out, giving Yami a sympathetic look and a week thumbs up.

The class was gone. The room was empty but for two people.

"Mr. Motou," Mr. Tsuki said. "We have a problem."

"We do?" Yami raised an eyebrow.

The teacher snarled. "I will not be made a fool of in my class! If order is not kept, chaos will break loose. And as punishment, you are to attend detention for the next two days, and there will be a thirty percent grade reduction for you in this class."   
  
Yami heard Yuugi cry out from within. : _No! He can't do that! I didn't do anything wrong! He's just an arrogant old man who doesn't like to be wrong! He's a skeptical old fool! Please! I can't loose anything else in the class, or I won't pass!_:

Yuugi was almost panicking, and Yami was very, very angry. "Yes, chaos will break loose, won't it?" He gave a dark ghost of a smile, tilting his head upward ever so slightly. "An eye for an eye."

Turning quickly and grabbing Yuugi's things, he walked out the door.

Yuugi was a trifle worried at the last statement. : _I should tell you, that it's no longer an eye for an eye. Now, people preach for you to turn the other cheek._:

: _Sometimes, aibou, balances should not be tampered with. When something has been trespassed upon, according to the gods vengeance must be served._:

The way Yami said it, Yuugi almost believed that there were multiple gods up there, waiting to seek vengeance upon their mortal underlings.

Inside, he shivered, but Yami acted as if he hadn't noticed.

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Must stop here, otherwise I'm going to give away the good part _far_ too soon.


	3. Broken Shards

**When It's No Longer Cliche**

To start, I would like to leave a note to the readers and to the reviewer setokaba:

I made a mistake in the previous chapter. The Pythagorean theorem is _not_ Calculus, it is Algebra. Honestly, I did not know this for my lack of education in mathematics. I want to thank setokaba for pointing this out to me, and I want to apologize for my mistake. The only things _I_ actually know about calc I learned in Chemistry.

See! Constructive criticism does work! Thank you setokaba!!

On to the fic…

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Yuugi sat alone at the local Burger World in an out-door booth, happily sipping away at a malt and enjoying his book. The money that Honda had taken back for him truly did pay for some of his dinners, and he only received little scraps of money at home when his drunken father forgot some in the bathroom. Yuugi discovered years ago that Yogosu never noticed it missing, and felt he was more than obliged to take it, considering the fact that his parents paid for so very little for him.

After all, some of that money also paid for the bag of clothes he could get for ten yen at the Good Will or Salvation Army. He was far too small to fit into anything his parents discarded, and they never took him shopping for clothes.

Just as he was about to turn the page, he felt a strange tugging sensation from deep within, and suddenly there was transparent color floating next to him.

No, scratch that, a transparent _Yami_ was sitting next to him. His jaw dropped slack. The ghostly figure next to him smirked.

: _You'd better not do that, aibou. No one can see me but you in my spiritual form. They're all going to think you've gone mad._:

Yuugi snorted, closing his mouth and returning to his book. : _Please, I've already gone insane._:

Yami peered over his shoulder, looking at the page in front of Yuugi. He tried to read some of the words. _riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodious vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs._

Yami shook his ghostly head. : _Yuugi, how can you understand that? What does it say?_:

Yuugi chuckled. : _Don't feel too bad, Yami. Most people can't understand this book. There are people who have even written **books** on this book. The sentence is just describing the course that a river takes as it __winds through the countryside, going by a church in Ireland that's called 'Eve and Adam's', and eventually ending up filtering back into the ocean at Howth Castle. It's a very famous sentence that alludes to the entire book._:

The spirit next to him looked quite lost. : _Small wonder people can't keep up with you when you speak._:

Yuugi frowned into his book, taking another sip from his malt. : _Not that it's such a bad thing, either. All crazed people need to read this book, Finnegans Wake. Perhaps we wouldn't have so many bullies running around._:

Yami said nothing, but slipped back inside of Yuugi's body, waiting for Yuugi to finish with his reading.

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Yuugi took a deep breath as he stood in front of his house. He wasn't looking forward to walking in there. He _never_ looked forward to going home. Were it not so cold out at night he'd sleep out on the streets, but there were too many thugs that could get the better of him. Not to mention Yami couldn't sneak him into the shower. _I **hate** depending on them. I can't wait until I'm out of school. I can't wait until I can get a job and have my own place._

Yuugi turned the doorknob and began to push it open, when suddenly all he saw were spots of pain shooting across his eyelids.

His father had pushed the door closed again, the wood surface hitting Yuugi's right hip hard. The bone was still bruised, and still very tender. The pain sent Yuugi reeling, straight onto his knees. He cried out in pain, clutching his side as he waited for the pulsing agony to subside. _Don't show weakness in front of him. He will only beat you down further because of it._ _Get off your knees!_

Yuugi struggled to stand, finding out dismayed that he couldn't. His leg refused to work. _I can't get up. I can't get up to save my own damned life! I hate this!!!_ Yuugi began to feel as desperate as before he finished the puzzle, and his father's angered voice in the back of his mind did nothing to help him.

It was amazing, just how quickly all of this was happening. For a moment, and only the briefest of a moment, he finally understood the term '_I see red._' A blaze of anger laced through his vision, and for a moment he felt his heart swell with a fury so terrible it left him shuddering in its wake.

Yami's anger left him when the spirit finally left his body, attaining his own form as he had done the night before.

Yuugi's father's eyes became wide as he looked around him wildly. "Where the hell did you go, bitch?!"

Yuugi heaved in another shaky breath from the ground, looking up at Yami through his pain infected vision. "Don't kill him," he rasped out.

The spirit's seething blood red eyes turned to look at him confused. "Why not?"

Yogosu looked around himself bewildered, trying to find the voice of his son and another male. Why the hell couldn't he see him? He was just here!

"Because I need the bastard," Yuugi choked, this action a mixture of his agony and dismay at his own dependency. "I will _not _become a part of the system. I will not endure the stress of foster care. Just…whatever you do, don't kill him."

Yami snarled, revealing a set of rather enlarged canines. His rage was still building. "_Let me hurt him._"

Yogosu shivered, taking a step back into the house. Perhaps he'd had too much beer that night. He was positive that the whiskey didn't help either.

Yuugi's eyes grew very hard, and unusually cold as he looked up at his father. He nodded his head. "_Make sure he **feels** it._"

Yami's rage slowed momentarily as he noticed this change. Was…was his light supposed to be like that? Of course, he _did_ have good reason. Damned good reason. Could he have it his way, both the parents would have been dead a long, _long_ time ago. "Don't look Yuugi. Turn the other way."

Yami was surprised when Yuugi hissed in reply. "_No. I want to see it. Don't ever, **ever** shield me. **I** will be the judge of what I see, not another. **No.** **One.** **Else.**_"

Yami's eyes were wide as he sent for the wretched man.

Yogosu tried to run, but suddenly felt cold hands that he could not see grip his neck, and suddenly…

There was a huge tug **_backwards_. **Hundreds of hurtful, tiny little tendrils grabbed a firm hold of his spine and brought him back out to the front door, flipped him around, and slowly began to creep up, cutting off his air supply.

Yuugi looked up at the man's pained face, a random memory from his child-hood coming to the front of his mind.

He had been but five years old. Just five, and only the summer before he went to school for the very first time. He had been sitting at the edge of the driveway with nothing to do. None of the children on his block would play with him. The last time they tried his parents yelled at all of them senseless until t hey ran home crying, and Yuugi got a swift kick to the chest.

The ice cream truck was making its usual rounds, and the driver, bless his heart, had seen the poor boy sitting there, and knew from word on the street that his family had little to no money. As some of the other children were getting ice cream, he actually came up to Yuugi and offered him a cone, absolutely free.

Yuugi had been overjoyed. Absolutely thrilled.

His father, on the other hand, had come over just after the truck left, yelled at him for steeling, and threw the ice cream on the ground. Before Yuugi even had a chance to cry, he felt a sharp sting on his cheek, and the red mark from the slap lasted for two weeks.

The pain in Yuugi's hip and the harsh sounds of choking from his father brought him back to attention. Purple smoke was swirling around Yogosu's neck, visibly immobilizing the man from his spine up. His nerves were nothing but conduits for pain at the moment, and the only reason he wasn't screaming was because he was gagging so much.

Yes…Yuugi's hip. It had been badly bruised for a bout a month now. He'd come home late one night after studying his eyeballs out at the local library. His mother had met him at the door angered, slapped him across the face, and…

It was the only time she'd actually cheered for her husband.

Yogosu met him with a baseball bat.

Perhaps his bone had been chipped. That would explain its reluctance to heal.

Yuugi tried to stand again, utterly failing. His sound of pain brought Yami out of his gleeful revere of torture, flinging the worthless man back into the house and rushing to Yuugi's side.

"Easy," Yami soothed, pulling him up and allowing Yuugi to rest against him. "We'll get this healed." Yuugi could only shake his head in reply, allowing Yami to carry him into the house, up the steps and into his miserable bedroom.

Gently laying him down on the bed, Yami began to remove Yuugi's pants, revealing the right hip that was now blacker than the first time he'd seen it.

Tears streamed down Yuugi's face as Yami touched it, and the teenager couldn't help by cry out, his body shaking under the strain of the injured nerves. "Hurts…hurts so much…" he sobbed.

Yami closed his eyes as he concentrated, leaning his forehead against Yuugi's shoulder, as the teen could not lay down flat comfortably. Yuugi latched on to him tightly, afraid to let go.

It was longer this time before the spirit finished, helping Yuugi to lie back down carefully. "Don't move it for some time, Yuugi. Otherwise, it will never heal."

Yuugi shook his head, pulling the blanket closer. "I can't feel it."

"I numbed it for you. At least now you'll be able to sleep. It should be a great deal better by the morning."

He nodded his head. "Stay with me? I didn't shiver last night with the cold. I don't know how you do it, but it's so warm when you touch me."

Yami kicked off his boots and scooted next to Yuugi, pulling him close. _Funny,_ the spirit thought to him self. _I thought the same thing about you._

_aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa_

The teenager gave a triumphant grin as he paraded into homeroom that morning. Honda raised an eyebrow in suspicion, waiting to see what the mutt pulled out of his sleeve. "All right, what did you find?"

Jou waggled his eyebrows. "Oh, guess."

Honda sighed. "No."

The blonde frowned for a moment. "You sure know how to take all of the fun out of swiping sump' thin." He sat down in the seat in front of his brunette friend. "I got them."

"Them," Honda asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I got the transcripts for the runt! They're right here!" He brandished a slightly crinkled piece of paper.

Honda snatched it up quickly, not even bothering to ask where Jou got them, or how he managed to get something that's supposed to be confidential. The more he read, the more he couldn't believe it. "All right, get this. The kid's got straight A's in his advanced English, Art, Literature, and Music classes. He's got average grades in his Advanced History and Government classes, and he's got really poor grades in his regular Math and Science classes!"   
  
"Really," Jou asked. "I didn't get a chance to look at 'em yet." He grabbed the sheet. "Oh my god, he's got a D in Chemistry! _Damn!_ He's as bad as we are at dat!"

Honda scratched his chin. "So he's not an overall smart guy. He's just got really fancy talk and really fancy art. That's not too bad, ya think?"

Jou shook his head. "I couldn't tell ya, pal. I really couldn't."

A couple of girls walked into the classroom, whispering madly with each other. "Did you hear what happened to the math teacher, Mr. Tsuki," one of them asked. "Someone said they saw him walking down Seventh Street last night in his pajamas, muttering something about not being good enough! Can you believe it?"

"Yeah," another one said. "They've got a substitute for us today! Some old hag by the name of Rei."

Jou turned to Honda. "You believe any of dat?"

Honda paled a little. "I'm the one who called the police on the old guy. I'm telling you, man, I have never seen anything like it. He was just…it's like he wasn't really there."

Jou's eyes became very wide. This was, indeed, a very strange thing.

Yes…strange.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Yuugi sat down underneath the shade of the oak tree that was in the school lunch area outside. Normally, he might have been able to finish his book the night before…but…well. That didn't happen. He'd fallen asleep abruptly, and woke up at about one, asking Yami to help him into the shower. That was one thing he refused to go without.

School lunch consisted of mashed potatoes and gravy with chicken nuggets. The joke around school was that the day they served that was called 'liquid fat day.' Yuugi thought that the term was rather fitting.

The sudden disappearance of Mr. Tsuki had him quite irked. Especially considering the fact that when he woke up, he could have _sworn_ that it felt as though Yami had just lain back down.

Perhaps it was just in his imagination.

"Hey, Motou! I think it's about time you pay up. Some twat took the money I took from you, so you're going to have to pay up a bit more."

Yuugi looked up worriedly as the voice of Ushiro bombarded his eardrums. Oh, no. This was bad.

Suddenly, someone hit him from behind, pushing the puzzle around his neck up…

And straight into Ushiro's hands. The bully somehow managed to pry away one piece, which was none other than the eye in the very center of one side.

"_No!_" Yuugi cried. "Give it back!" He was starting to panic. He couldn't feel Yami inside of him anymore. The spirit was now trapped back in the puzzle. He stood up shakily.

"You want it, shrimp?" Ushiro asked. "Cough up the dough."

Yuugi winced. "I don't have any. I hardly ever _do_. Please, give it back to me."

The bully's crony from behind him stepped forward. "You really want it back?"

"_Yes,_" Yuugi stressed.

Ushiro's eyes gleamed, noticing the school pool a short distance away. "Go fetch, Motou." He let the gold piece fly.

Panic clouded his mind, and Yuugi dropped his lunch and ran towards the pool, not even bothering to take off his coat as he dove for the puzzle piece.

Ushiro felt a punch to his face he didn't even see coming, and suddenly the punk who had taken money from him earlier and his buddy had him and his crony on the ground, down for the count. "Dat was a dirty trick," Jou spat. "Leave the shrimp alone. He aint got any money!"

Yuugi, meanwhile, was heading straight down into the depths of the pool. Why, oh _why_ did it have to land in the deep end? This pool went fifteen feet deep! Would he have enough air?

It didn't matter. He had to get to the piece. He could see the rather large hunk of gold glimmering. The eye was almost twinkling at him, enticing him to retrieve it.

Finally, after what felt like hours of diving, he reached it, and immediately snapped the piece back into place.

Yuugi suddenly realized that he had another problem on his hands. His body, it its panic, had used up much more oxygen than if he had been calm when he swam. He was out of enough air to kick back to the surface.

In a flash of gold light Yami was beside him in the water, pulling him close. : _Let me help you breathe,_: he sent

Yuugi nodded, yet more panic rising in his through.

He was surprised when Yami pushed his lips against his, but out of lack of air his mouth burst open to suck in a breath full of water-

And received a warm, spicy air instead.

Yami had enough breath in him to allow Yuugi the chance to breathe. When Yuugi believed that he had the strength to, he let go and motioned upward, beginning to kick. Yami helped him up, using what was undoubtedly magic to help him reach the surface faster.

Yuugi's head broke the surface, and he sucked in precious air, his lungs feeling as though they were about to collapse.

Two pairs of hands helped to pull him out of the water, and Yuugi looked up into the concerned faces of Jou and Honda. Yami had disappeared again.

"Are you all right, kid?" Jou asked. "That puzzle must mean sump 'thin to ya to go diving for it like dat."

Yuugi nodded vigorously. "Yeah, I'm fine."   
  
Honda looked at him quizzically. "What happened down there? For a while it looked like there was two of ya!"

Yuugi shook his head, unruffled by the question. "Just the ripples of the water causing distortion. It was just me."

Honda looked skeptical, but didn't press the matter.

Yuugi sat at the edge of the pool, reflecting what had just happened. He had been so terrified. The only thing he could think about was getting that puzzle piece back.

And Yami.

He suddenly realized just how dependent he was becoming on the spirit, and he shuddered, hugging himself. He shrugged off his wet coat and let the dry breeze hit him. He _hated_ being dependent. The element that one became dependent on could suddenly vanish, and then one would be left lost and broken. He couldn't let that happen. He was damned and determined to survive, and so far showing a need for _anything_ beyond self-sufficiency had shown to be volatile, and the sure-to-be end of him.

"Hey, are you sure you're all right, man?" Jou asked. "Maybe we should take you to the nurse."

Yuugi shook his head. "No, I'm fine. Really." He stood shakily, grabbing his wet coat. "Thanks for the help. I…I really appreciate it." He turned big purple eyes over to the two, and let them know without words he was filled with gratitude.

He walked as quickly as he could to a dark corner that was out of the way where no one would see him, put his coat down, and held the puzzle closely.

Yami was out and next to him, holding him close. "You're not all right."

"No, really, I am fine," Yuugi reiterated.

"Not physically," Yami said. "Mentally. You're afraid of how much you think you need me."

Yuugi winced. "I'm…I'm sorry. I've never been able to get the pieces apart, I don't know now why one came off. It just seems so delicate now…what if something happens, and I become _too_ dependent on you, and then you're not there? Where will it leave me?"

Yami silenced him with a soft touch to his lips with his thumb. "The puzzle lost a piece because you did not believe that I would come out right away. You have to always trust me Yuugi, or our bond will not work properly."

Yuugi shook his head, hiding in Yami's chest. "I'm just…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I know you said it was dark in there, and to be ripped away from life again so quickly…what if I fail you?"

Yami held him closer. "You won't. I believe in you. And you have to stop doubting yourself, and you _have_ to stop trying to take on the responsibility of everything happening to you. Everyone needs someone, aibou. I don't care who you are. But you are an amazing person to have been so alone for so long and yet not walk brokenly. _Stop._ _Doubting."_ He was silent for a moment, and the next thing he said had a hint of almost pleading. " Please."

Yuugi closed his eyes, wrapping his arms around Yami's neck. "Don't leave me, do you hear? Damn it, _don't_ _leave_ _me_."

Yami ran his fingers through Yuugi's hair gently. "Never. Don't let me go back in the dark, all right? It's cold…and I don't like the dark."

Yuugi could have almost laughed at the irony of the statement, but instead chose to cry into the crook of the spirit's neck. "I won't."

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Review? Please?


	4. Repercussions

**When It's No Longer Cliche**

Yuugi awoke that morning in pain. And this was no pounding headache, or aching eardrums from a long-screeched lecture. No, this was a pain that was so terrible that it made his whole body itch and want to jump out of his skin. He could hardly handle it.

This was the type of pain where the body seemed to simply forget to block off the majority of it, and he knew that he was in trouble.

A pain that causes panic to rise in the throat.

Yuugi moaned, trying as hard as he could to move as little as possible. This was something he was familiar to waking up with. Perhaps that blissful dream he'd had over the night had finally ended. The fantasy epic of a total of three nights was now gone.

His brow knitted together in pain, and he pushed his head pack into his pillow, direly trying to find some source of relief.

"Yuugi," the sultry voice whispered next to him. "What's wrong, aibou? Where does it hurt?"

The teen sucked in a shaky breath. Even though he was in pain, he couldn't help but cheer a little on the inside. _A god up there **does** love me! He's still here! Thank the heavens!_ Yuugi could only whisper back through the icy grip on his throat. "My hip. It hurts so much…" He winced, a sharp jab in the bone forcing him to whimper softly.

Yami shook his head in shock. "How? It should be nearly healed by now. I helped it twice already…" When the spirit moved the blankets aside to look at the offending area, his eyes widened in disbelief. It was blacker than ever before. He was beginning to get frustrated. This had to be healed, and he needed to figure out what was wrong with it.

Yuugi cried out in agony when Yami touched it, tears streaming down his face. He just wished the pain would subside. That's all he wanted. Even if it did not heal all of the way, that was okay with him. So long as it was bearable!

Perspiration broke out on Yami's forehead as he concentrated, trying to puzzle together just what was wrong. Perhaps a larger injury to the bone than he had suspected? Yuugi's body shuddered underneath of his grip, and it sent his senses reeling again. He needed to focus on the nerves. Those are what hurt, but every time Yuugi moved, it was his nerves moving, and Yami lost track of what he was looking for. The pain just seemed to be everywhere.

Wait…he was missing something that was painfully obvious. There had to be a central point of pain, an epicenter, as it were. But…

It wasn't a surface wound. Not even a lower level, it was deeper. So deep in fact…

The answer smacked him in the face hard. "Oh, gods…I should have noticed this sooner." The spirit let go, and Yuugi opened his strained eyes and looked at Yami imploringly. "Well?"

Yami sighed hard. "Yuugi…I'm sorry I didn't see this sooner. Your bone is cracked. I was attempting to heal the outer problem, the bruises, which were mainly spurred on to become worse because of your bone. It…the split is down to the marrow, and it's leaking blood everywhere. I can heal this all of the way. In fact, I have to, or it _won't_ heal on its own. Bone takes years to re-grow."

Yuugi looked at Yami nervously. "Bone is almost all nerves…Oh goddess, you have to make all of those nerves grow back. This pain…it's going to be some of the worst I've ever felt."

Yami bowed his head apologetically. "I'm sorry."

Yuugi shook his head. "Oh, don't apologize, for Pete's sake! It's not like it's your bloody fault!"

The spirit looked at him curiously. "Yuugi…just how did this happen to you?"

Yuugi's eyes flickered to the corner of his room, and then back to Yami. "My father met me at the front door one day with that." He nodded his head to a dark corner next to his door. Yami's eyes followed the invisible line, seeing a large wooden…club? "It's called a bat," Yuugi filled in. The spirit walked over and picked it up, filling with rage as he felt its weight. It was solid wood, and could, indeed, break bone when struck hard enough.

"I still want you to let me kill your father," Yami hissed.

Yuugi clutched at his old bed sheet tightly. "When I'm eighteen, I'll even supply the blades."

Yami still could not get over how much Yuugi yearned to see his father's blood spill. Granted, it _would_ be a glorious sight. It just…didn't seem right coming from Yuugi. He didn't look like the vengeful type. "Yuugi," Yami tried. "How…bloody, have some of things you've read been? And how much did you like them?"

Yuugi narrowed his eyes, still immobilized on the bed. "It gave detailed descriptions of the blood vessels oozing out of a severed neck, the warm blood spilling across a white marble floor. It's a stark contrast, you know? And yet they go so beautifully together. But it's a harsh beauty. As for liking them? With the sweet sense of naiveté ever floating about me?" Yuugi scowled at this statement, but then smiled. "Innocence is a fickle thing, and appearances can be ever so deceiving."

Yami…well, he put the bat down slowly. Yuugi probably tried to look for the good in everyone. After all, he wasn't blood-_thirsty_, but if someone crossed his path hard enough…

The dark spirit was just grateful that Yuugi was on his side. If he ever truly went crazed, like he him self almost did…

Old reputations would spring up, putting old tales of blood shed to terrible shame.

Yami felt his heart clench in deep depression, but he knew it wasn't his heart, it was Yuugi's. The poor boy was still crushed at his lot in life, but even if he silently wallowed in self-pity, he would _never_ outwardly admit it, and he would _never_ let it consume him. Yami knew it was more than anyone could expect from him, and he wanted to smother him with affection and protection all the more. _It's amazing what the human body is capable of when pushed too far._

"Yami, if you start to heal me, you know I will scream. My parent's won't leave for work for a little while, and if we wait I won't make it to school on time."

"Then perhaps you need to take a day off, aibou. Your body certainly needs it." He walked back over and sat down next to the half-naked boy on the bed.

Yuugi looked worried for a moment. "A day off? I...I haven't taken a day off in…" he was silent as he thought. It took a little while. "Four years."

Yami nodded. "Then you do need it. We'll wait until your parents leave. After all, after I heal you, I'll be out of commission for the rest of the day. The only thing I will be able to do is keep you invisible until the evening, when I have recuperated a bit."

Yuugi nodded slightly. "All right. But just for today. I…I don't know how much food I'm going to get today."

Yami frowned. "We'll find you something."

Yelling outside of Yuugi's window captured their attention, and Yami got up to look. He parted the blinds with his middle and fore finger, peering outside through narrowed eyes.

Yuugi's parents were outside in the driveway, Yogosu shoving his wife towards the run-down car. _It's all your fault,_ Yogosu was saying. _If you didn't…_ It was hard to make out all of what was being said. _If you hadn't..._ his mother started. Yogosu smacked her hard across her face, then opened up the car door and shoved her inside. _We'll find…if it's the last thing I…_ He heard nothing more of them as the car started and they screeched out of the driveway and into the road.

"They're gone, Yuugi."

The teenager blinked curiously. "I wonder why they left."

Yami shrugged. "It doesn't matter. At least now no one will find out you're here." The spirit walked back up to him, sitting down carefully. "Are you sure you're ready now," he asked concerned.

Yuugi sighed. "It has to be done sooner or later. I might as well get it done and over with." Yami nodded and Yuugi took a deep breath, bracing himself. Yami touched his hip again, and this time-

Yuugi's scream reached every corner of the house.

The noise filled Yami's ears so he could do nothing but concentrate on the pain in his eardrums. He could feel the pain Yuugi felt spilling through their link, causing him to favor his own hip as he sat there carefully. But mostly, he focused on the injured bone. The nerves were raw, and they were horrendously tender. As each centimeter fused together another scream erupted from Yuugi's throat. His voice would be raw before this was all over, if he didn't pass out from the pain first. And it pained Yami endlessly that he had to do this. If he didn't though, Yuugi would never be able to walk properly again.

Yuugi began to become afraid that the fire lacing through his body was never going to end. It took so long just to get all of the bone fused, and for some reason he knew that Yami was having a hard time. Then suddenly-

It stopped, and Yuugi collapsed on his bed, sweat pouring down his face. Yami tried to brace himself on his arms as he panted over Yuugi, perspiration breaking out all over his features. His limps quavered as he tried to remain upright. He hadn't done that much magic in a long time, and his spirit was not truly prepared to put up with the strain yet. "A-are…are you better…Yuugi?"

Yuugi shuttered, pulling his arms over his sweat-covered chest. Now that he wasn't sweating anymore, the chill air was hitting his damp skin, and he was getting cold. He nodded vigorously, suddenly out of energy, too. It was, after all, hard work growing bones. "Yeah…better."

Finally, Yami could handle it no more, and collapsed on the young teen. Yuugi pulled the almost prone form close, hugging the warmth to his chest. Yami held on to him tightly, relishing in the contact. They spoke no more as they tried to get some rest.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Yuugi woke up again, sometime around noon, he guessed, and his stomach was killing him. Yami was curled up against him, clutching on to him tightly. He looked exceedingly peaceful, and Yuugi was hard-pressed to wake him. He looked exhausted.

Yuugi's stomach growled again, and Yami's eyes peeled open. He squinted as noon sunlight drifted over his face, looking at Yuugi questioningly. He still wasn't quite sure what woke him.

Yuugi's stomach growled again.

Yami seemed to sigh in relief. "Are you hungry?"

Yuugi, despite his exhaustion, chuckled. "No, I've practiced making sounds with my stomach. Talented, ne?"

Yami snorted in mirth. "Sarcastic imp." He started to get up. "Don't move from this bed, or I'll be forced to tie you down. _Don't._ _Move._ _That._ _Hip._"

Yuugi yawned sleepily. "Mother hen. But I will have to go to the bathroom soon."

Yami sighed to himself. "Yes, that is a wretched mortal habit, isn't it?"

Yuugi laughed. "_Lord, what fools these mortals be!_"

The spirit tiredly pried him self out of bed, chuckling, and pulled the one blanket over Yuugi securely. "Yuugi, I don't know what I'd do without your quotes." He went to the door. "I'm off to raid the kitchen."

"Don't be gone long," Yuugi replied, resting his eyes again.

Yami walked down the steps, disgusted at the dilapidated state the establishment was in. Dirt was everywhere, and there were so many beer and bloodstains that nobody bothered to clean up it made his stomach churn. In five thousand years, this was the first time he ever remembered wanting to retch at the sigh of something.

Entering the kitchen, he ignored the splattered bits of grease on the walks and cigarette smoke that seeped into the paint. Opening up one of the cupboards, he found it to be mostly barren. There was just one jar of…something. Grabbing the brown and clear plastic container, he opened up the top carefully, smelling what was on the inside.

It didn't smell bad. But what was this stuff? He took a small taste of it, and was reminded of sweetened peanuts.

On the counter there was a loaf of bread that was…pre-sliced? Wasn't that convenient?

He scowled to him self. He _hated_ being behind the times.

There was a large object buzzing next to the wall, and tentatively he walked over, seeing an obvious handle on the front. So…this large thing was meant to be opened.

He pried open the bisque colored front, and felt a wave of cool air hit him. How interesting…a cold storage that was _truly_ cold!

Unfortunately, there wasn't anything in there but an old container of milk. Picking up the carton, he smelled it, and immediately regretted it. That milk had turned south _long_ ago.

Water would have to do.

Rummaging through the drawers, he looked for a utensil that was suitable to pry out the thick, sweat peanut substance he found onto the bread, and found a rather dulled looking knife. Not rusted, but just crafted to not have much of an edge at all. He could only think that the object would be good for cutting butter.

In fact…that's probably exactly what it was used for.

Finishing up with the impromptu sandwich, he found a glass, and started looking around for some water. There were no containers anywhere, but he did remember what the faucet in the bathroom did, and tried likewise at the kitchen sink.

Thankfully, water came out nice and cold.

Yami brought up his findings to Yuugi, mortified at the fact that there was nothing else to eat in that entire kitchen. When he opened up the door, Yuugi looked over at him and smiled.

"This was all I could find," Yami said apologetically. "There was nothing else in the entire kitchen."

Yuugi shook his head, still smiling. "That's all right. I'm impressed. There usually isn't that much." Yami sat back down on the bed, giving him the sandwich and holding the glass of water. Yuugi took it quietly, biting into it without hesitation.

"How are you feeling," Yami asked him.

"Tired," Yuugi sighed, shifting position slightly. "I have this strange feeling, almost like there's a foreign electricity buzzing through me. It's… hard to adapt to."

Yami nodded. "That doesn't surprise me. It's the magic that I used to heal you. It will take a while for your body to become accustomed to the energy."

The teenager finished off the peanut butter sandwich, then grabbed for the water. "I was beginning to think as much."

Yami noticed just how drained Yuugi truly looked. His face was pale, his hair was falling limply around his features, and he simple looked _stretched_. He needed better nutrition and better sleeping and living conditions, and he knew that Yuugi was very aware of this. Waiting for Yuugi to finish the water, he took the now empty glass and set it on the bedside table. "You need rest, get some sleep, and don't wake up until tonight. Tomorrow if you can help it."

Yuugi looked up at the spirit next to him, the usually sharp eyes drooping a little in sleepiness. "You do, too. You look just as drained as I feel."

Yami crawled into bed with him, smiling wearily. "You echoed my thoughts exactly."

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Yami's eyes snapped open when he heard the front door slam closed. Yuugi was still asleep, and he was glad of that. The poor thing shouldn't wake up if he didn't have to.

His parents were home, and looking over at the clock next to the bed, he could see that it was 7:30 P.M.

Whatever the hell that meant.

But it did let him know that they had been out all day long. They were yelling profusely, making a lot of loud banging noises downstairs. He held Yuugi close, covering his ears. His magic would keep Yuugi from hearing most of what they were saying or doing. He did not need to wake up. His parents had already sucked too much energy from him, anymore and Yami would be forced to kill them anyway.

Pounding up the stairs. The dark spirit _knew_ they were coming their way. He could literally feel it.

Wouldn't they have a nasty surprise?

_How am I supposed to know where…stupid little bast… don't even know why we had him anyway!_

He didn't know what they were talking about for certain, but he had a strong feeling that it was about their son.

_Why are we even…this is all your fault…_

They were getting louder. Yami heard the doorknob turn, and with a simple wave of his hand created a beautiful illusion they would never see past.

Thank Re Yuugi wasn't hearing this. He didn't need any more stress.

The old door slammed open, and Yuugi's mother and father looked inside, eyes wide. "Why the hell is there…there's nothing here!" Yogosu looked like he was starting to panic. The little fiasco the night before had him questioning what he saw lately. Yami noted mildly interested that the man did not reek of alcohol today. Yuugi's mother looked quite distraught, and kept wringing her hands in front of her. "What's going on," she cried. "There's never been a linen closet here before! This is a bedroom! A bedroom!"

"Shut up," Yogosu cried, holding his head in his hands frightened. "Just shut up! I don't know what's going on! Of course this has always been a linen closet! What else would it be?" He voice did not sound convincing, it sounded pleading.

The door slammed closed. He would make sure one-way or another that they forgot Yuugi even lived there.

So far, he was making good progress.

It grew silent for a while, and Yami had actually started to dose off again, content with the fact that they weren't going to try to find Yuugi in his room for the rest of the night.

It must have been a couple of hours after the sun went down, and the night had enveloped the earth.

There was a large bang so loud it actually made his heart skip a beat. Yuugi sat bolt upright in his bed, his eyes very wide. "Oh, no," he gasped.

Yami did not know what that noise meant, but Yuugi surely did, and he was damned and determined to make it downstairs. Yami could do nothing but help him down the steps, holding him close to make sure the monsters downstairs did not see him.

Yuugi tumbled into the living room, looking around at what happened.

Yami himself could hardly believe it.

Yuugi's mother was dead on the floor, blood pooling out of her head. Yogosu sat on his knees, shaking violently, holding a gun to his head. "Do you see this, Yuugi," he whispered to himself. "Do you see what you've made me do? She wouldn't shut up about you. I had to make her quit. I don't have a _fucking_ idea why she wanted you home…I had to make her stop. She hadn't seen you for three days now. I…"

A single tear strolled down the man's cheek, and suddenly, another shot echoed through the still night air, and the bullet flew through his temple and out the other end. Blood splattered everywhere, marring the faded walls with new color.

Yuugi suck to his knees, then sat down, leaning against the wall for support. His invisibility to them had unexpected repercussions, after all. He could do nothing but stare at the mess of blood before him. _"But, O, what form of prayer can serve my turn? 'Forgive me my foul murder?' That cannot be; since I am still possess'd of those effects for which I did the murder, my crown, mine own ambition, and my queen. May one be pardon'd and retain the offence? In the corrupted currents of this world offence's gilded hand may shove buy justice, and oft 'tis seen the wicked prize itself buys out the law. But 'tis not so above."_ Yuugi shook his head, still unable to look away. It's like his eyes were glued to the blood of his parents like insects drawn to a carcass. Yami sat down next to him, holding him close. "It's not your fault," he whispered. "Never, ever was it your fault."

Yuugi gave a shaky nod. "I speak for him." Yami knew that _him_ was Yuugi's father.

"I'm sorry you had to see that."

Yuugi grabbed Yami's hand, brought it up to his eyes, and shied away into Yami's chest, holding that hand to his head for comfort. "So am I." He didn't move, but he did say something else. "We need to call the police."

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Sugoroku Motou walked worriedly into the police station. He had received an urgent phone call, hearing some of the most life changing news he could ever remember.

His son and daughter-in-law were dead, and he now had a grandson that was left orphaned. He was the boy's only living relative, and if he did not come pick him up, he would be forced into foster care for the next three and a half years.

He walked up to the front desk, noticing an officer that was taking messages. "Hello," he started. "I'm here to pick up my grandson." The woman looked up at him with glimmering green eyes, suddenly growing serious. "Motou, Sugoroku?"

"Yes, that's me."

She nodded heavily. "I was told you'd be coming. Right this way." She stepped out from behind the desk and started walking towards the back. There were many closed offices scattered about down the hall, and she stopped at one of the last ones.

Turning around abruptly, she turned to him with the same serious expression she wore earlier. He was curious to see what she was going to tell him. He had not been told much over the phone, but he was getting the idea that it wasn't a simple accident at home that killed his estranged children. "Mr. Motou, you need to know this before you take your grandson home. His father shot his mother earlier tonight, and then committed suicide promptly afterwards"

His face paled. "Oh, dear."

The officer went on. "Yuugi saw his father pull the trigger. When we got there, he was sitting against a wall in the living room, looking at the two rather transfixed. We believe that he has been traumatized, and some of the paramedics that looked over him think that it might be permanent. There are marks all over him of abuse, and the house had not a scrap of food in it." She looked at him sadly. "You've got a lot that has been suddenly thrust in your hands."

The elder man could not believe what he had just heard. This simply could not be real. Could it? Could all of that have happened in the eight years that he'd been gone? He didn't remember seeing any problems when he last visited.

Perhaps it was there, and he was just too blinded to see it. Guilt suddenly sat heavily upon his shoulders, and refused to leave.

He didn't want it to. He should feel guilty. This was horrible.

The officer noticed his silent intake of all of this information, then nodded, deeming him ready to go in. Slowly, she opened up the office door, allowing the aged man to enter. Just as silently, she closed it again, leaving Sugoroku and his silent grandson in the fluorescent-lit room.

Yuugi was sitting quietly, looking at the ground, his palms open on his lap and his feet drawn up on the space next to him on the chair. "Yuugi," Sugoroku tired. "Do you remember me? Do you know who I am?"

Yuugi's lips twitched slightly. "_Excellent well; you are a fishmonger._"

The elder man almost choked. "A fishmonger," he asked surprised. "No, Yuugi! Of course not!"

"_Then I would you were so honest a man._"

What had happened to his grandson? Had he truly been broken and gone mad?

"_'Tis now the very witching time of night when churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out contagion to this world. Now I could drink hot blood, and do such with such bitter business as the day would quake to look upon._"

Sugoroku walked up to him tentatively. "Yuugi, are you all right?" He was very near to panicking.

Suddenly Yuugi looked up at him with accusation in his eyes. "Where have you been," he asked, pain and hurt creeping into his voice. "All these years, where have you been? Why didn't you ever check up on me? _Where were you?_" His eyes began to water, but Yuugi refused to let the tears fall.

Yet.

"I'm sorry," Sugoroku tried. "You know that I was busy with travels and work, but I have no excuse. I neglected you, and this is what happened. I'm sorry."

Yuugi's face became hard. "You honestly think it was just _you_ neglecting me? At five years old _no one_ noticed the red marks that marred my face. Has the world gone blind? Have all of you been stuck in perpetual darkness? Perhaps you jumped into Emily Dickenson's poem about darkness? Did you fail to realize the turmoil I've been in? Had I the funds and the age I would have moved out _long_ ago. The only thing inhibiting me from freedom was the _damned_ system! I would rather hide in my room than go into foster care! I've heard of horrors there worse than anything I've ever endured. At least at home I knew they couldn't break into the shields I put up. There was no hope there, unlike a foster place with a new home and a new bed and fresh meals on the table that could be taken away!" A couple of tears streamed down his face. "Why did you lead me to believe that you didn't care?" Finally, Yuugi broke down in front of another mortal being, and he broke down hard. "Why weren't you there?"

Sugoroku sank down to his knees and held Yuugi close, spilling his own tears. He could hardly believe Yuugi's response to him. He had developed quite the intellect while he was away. He seemed to be an adult trapped in a child's hell.

Or perhaps Yuugi always had the intellect. He just hadn't noticed. He _had_ been blind. "I'm so sorry. I'm going to try to make it up to you, but I know that I never will all of the way."

Yuugi cried hard, holding on to his grandfather tightly. "Just…don't say any more. I know that you're struck dumb at what the 'right' thing is to say. There is no right thing. Just…I want a warm bed to sleep in tonight. That's all I want."

Sugoroku knew that Yuugi was more than right, and he was more than obliged to offer him a warm bed in a room that would belong all to him. After all, actions spoke louder than words. The best thing he could do now was to take action to make Yuugi's life as best as possible. "Let's go home." He helped Yuugi to stand, and began to escort him to the door.

"Ojii-chan?" 

"Yes Yuugi?"

Yuugi looked ahead, his hand clutching something at his chest. "Thanks for the puzzle."

Sugoroku Motou left the police station with a hurt grandson and wide, befuddled eyes.

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Feed the authoress. (Pouts and looks at review box)


	5. Music and Games

**When It's No Longer Clich**

Well…a few reviewers had quite a few things to say. Many of them wanted to know about the quotes, so I'll tell you where they came from, in the order in which they were said.

_Lord what fools these mortals be!_ I believe this one is from Macbeth, however, I do not have the play in front of me, and this quote is rather estranged to me, so I could not cite exactly who said it.

_But, O, what form of prayer can serve my turn? 'Forgive me my foul murder?…'_ This is from Hamlet. The King, Hamlet's uncle, is caught praying and confessing his sins of plotting to murder his brother the King, take the throne, and marry the Queen. Hamlet catches him, and is filled with a confirmed rage. (After all, the ghost of the dead king comes and tells his son of his murder. This only confirmed what he heard.)

_Excellent well, you are a fishmonger._ Hamlet plots to act insane, because he needs people in the castle to spill what they know to him. If they think he is crazy, they will not think twice about revealing secrets, especially if they know what happened to kill his father. When Polonius asks if Hamlet knows who he is, this is Hamlet's reply to him while acting to be insane.

_'Tis now the very witching hour of night when churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes contagion…_ Hamlet says this while angered, and just before he goes to speak with his mother to reveal about the plot to kill his father. Even his mother was unaware of what her second husband did to her first one.

Plus, one other reviewer stated that I made a couple of mistakes. One of such was when I said that the 'milk went south long ago.' No, I did not mean sour, I meant south. At least where I am from, it is an old statement, because if something 'goes south,' there is much more heat and much more humidity that makes food spoil much more quickly. It's either that, or it was a statement that developed during the civil war, when people from the north, (them Yanks) would believe that if someone's loyalties were for southern slavery, they 'spoiled' and 'went south.' Either way, I surely meant south, not sour. As for the 'sweat peanut butter substance,' yes, that was a typo. Those kinds of typos are my ultimate bane, it seems, and I apologize for the mistake. I hate it when other authors make mistakes, but I _really_ hate it when I make one. Again, I apologize, that was my mistake. Oh, and one more thing, one person said that when I wrote 'Re' I might have meant 'Ra.' Well, please let me tell you, that they are in fact the very same thing. If you notice, they call one god 'Re-Atum, or 'Atum-Re.' That's pretty much the sun, or the fusion of Ra and Atum. It simply all depends on which version of the Egyptian mythology you follow. Each village seemed to have their own slightly different beliefs before the country was unified. Pretty confusing, ne?

And so that everyone else knows, _I don't own any of these characters **or** the quotes._

And a note on Finnegans Wake-if you have literally run out of things to read and would like something really crazy, go to your local library or bookstore and find it. However, I'm warning you, the whole book is pretty much like the first sentence, and I'm not joking when I tell you that it should be read with a very thick Irish accent, and preferably out loud. If you can be, make sure you're intoxicated when you read it. You will enjoy it that much more. And trust me, I'm quite serious about this. The books _written_ on this book will tell you likewise.

And now, on to the story…

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Sugoroku could not help but sit at the counter in his home, still rather stunned about what transpired at the police station. Of all things to say at that moment, why would his grandson thank him for some benign puzzle he gave him over eight years ago?

There was not much he could have done with it. Researchers and geniuses from all over the globe had tried to solve it, but it had literally been deemed impossible. The hieroglyphs on the box were so old, they told no story, and there were no records anywhere that mentioned a golden puzzle created for anything. It was assumed that a second-rate goldsmith had created a practice piece, and it was probably given to a noble's child to play with. It was probably worthless except for its weight in gold, and would only collect dust in a museum as a failed project.

His colleagues had given it to him, since he had been the one to find it, and told him to keep it as a memorabilia of his travels and digs in Egypt.

So he had given it to his grandson, hoping that he might get more enjoyment out of it than he ever would.

But as it seemed to turn out, Yuugi had proved his genius even further, spending the majority of his time in the past eight years solving it, and now wearing it as a necklace.

If any of the people he worked with saw that it was a prefect pyramid now, they would be crawling all over themselves just for a chance to look at it. Its value now would skyrocket so far up both him _and_ Yuugi could retire now and never worry about money again.

But he doubted that Yuugi was going to part with it. Not now. And in all honesty, he could never ask him to. With a sharp mind like his, Yuugi had needed something to get his mind off of his life, and Sugoroku had a strong feeling that it kept Yuugi's sanity in tact for a very long time.

Speaking of which, Yuugi was upstairs right now, sound asleep in the spare bedroom. The old man sighed, needing to get ready for bed himself. He was going to keep Yuugi out of school tomorrow, simply because the boy needed it, and deduced that it would be the perfect time to take him shopping for clothes, school supplies, lunch out, and some things to personalize his new room.

But how was he supposed to sleep with all of this now on his mind? His children dying in the same night, and suddenly taking on another child to finish raising?

Well…he had to correct himself. Yuugi would probably finishing raising himself on his own. He was very aware of what was going on around him; he just couldn't exactly supply the means to support himself until he was out of school. No job would hire him at fifteen. Children in school weren't allowed to have jobs.

But he still needed love. No matter how smart he was, he needed support from a loved one in life, and his grandfather now had every intention to give it to him. But by the time he was eighteen, he would be off to college, and only be back in the summer to stay with him, if he didn't find an apartment somewhere between class and work.

But there was still something that was irking Sugoroku, and he couldn't seem to quite place what it was. He couldn't seem to figure out exactly _how_ he was supposed to act around Yuugi. Could he do something and not even realize that he offended Yuugi? How distant would he be from everyone else around him?

Mr. Motou sighed hard, running his hand through his grayed hair. He had a lot to figure out, and he was afraid that he was running short on time.

The only thing was, he just couldn't figure out _why_.

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Yami woke up well after the sun came up, feeling soft blankets and clean sheets surrounding him, and a sleeping Yuugi dreaming in his arms.

For a moment, he was worried that Yuugi overslept. He knew that Yuugi did not want to miss school, and _he_ was actually looking forward to doing some more math homework. As silly as it might seem, he enjoyed it. It gave his usually rather dull day something exciting to do, and aside from trying to think of different strategies for games, it was his only stimulus. And just like Yuugi, he did not want to have a sedentary lifestyle or mind.

He didn't worry for long, though. He was going to take a good guess and say that Yuugi's grandfather let him stay in bed, giving him a day off. After studying the man intently the night before, he told Yuugi before they went to bed that he trusted the elder man. Yuugi, despite his hurt at being ignored by the man for most of his life, agreed, and said that he knew his Ojii-chan would never hurt him.

He started rubbing Yuugi's arms gently, bringing his hand up to run through Yuugi's hair. Purple eyes blinked open drowsily.

"Morning, aibou."

Yuugi yawned, flexing his muscles slightly, thus causing his body to become even more spooned against the dark spirit. He frowned harshly. "I over slept, didn't I?"

Yami kissed his forehead softly. "It's easy to do when you have a soft, warm bed to sleep in."

Yuugi smiled, running his hand up to Yami's shoulder and holding it there, suddenly realizing that this was the only place he felt truly safe, and truly secure. Nothing could hurt him so long as Yami was holding him. _Oh, gods,_ he thought. _Every time he's out, I'm going to want to cling to him, simply because this is the only place I feel safe, and feeling safe is such a wonderful feeling. I've…I've never felt safe before._ He needed Yami. In fact…he had always needed Yami, even when he was trapped in the puzzle and he had to put it together. The puzzle had been his only support for sanity when he was younger. _I know I've said this before to myself, but he truly has always been there, even when he couldn't be there physically._   
  
And Yuugi suddenly realized ashamed that he never said something to Yami that he should have the very first night he finished the puzzle. "Thank you," Yuugi whispered. "You have given me so much."

Yami looked at him questioningly. "What did I give you?"

Yuugi almost wanted to laugh. What a silly question! "You gave me yourself, of course! You gave me warmth. You gave me concern…if you didn't come in my life, I wouldn't be _here_ right now. Thank you." He held on tightly, turning his embrace into a desperate hug. _I need you so much._

Yami heard that little thought slip through their solidifying link. "You gave me life, Yuugi. It is I that should be thanking you. I wouldn't be here either, if it hadn't been for you."

Yuugi out-right laughed. "What a sappy pair we make, ne? What are we going to do with each other?"

Yami chuckled, kissing Yuugi on the forehead again. That was his answer.

"_Yuugi,_" Sugoroku called up the steps. "_Are you up_?" Yuugi sat up in bed, and Yami made himself invisible, still lying down.

"Ohayo, Ojii-chan," Yuugi called. His door opened up, and the lavender-purple eyes of his grandfather peered in.

The old man smiled. "Good morning, Yuugi. You've probably already noticed you slept in."

Yuugi nodded.

His grandfather continued. "Why don't you come down for some breakfast, and we'll go out shopping for you today? We'll buy you a whole new wardrobe, and some supplies for school. Maybe even a stuffed animal or two?"

Yuugi laughed. "Breakfast sounds wonderful. I'll be down shortly. I'm going to jump into the shower."

Nodding, Sugoroku began to leave. "I'll see you downstairs."

"A stuffed animal," Yami asked curiously after the elder man was out of earshot.

"Yeah…you know; that would be kind of nice. A bid duck would make a wonderful pillow."

Yami looked at Yuugi skeptically. "It's fake, right?"

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Yuugi laughed, realizing he had never smiled so much in one morning. "Yes, it's fake."

Yuugi and his grandfather could be found later that afternoon traipsing through the local mall, laden down with mass amounts of bags and boxes and other such various things.

Such as, for instance, a brand new belt that held a leather pouch to hold Yuugi's deck of Duel Monster Cards. He'd always had the cards for as long as he could remember. Sugoroku had given it to him when he was seven. Which was, in fact, the last time he'd seen his grandfather, and when he'd received the puzzle.

Currently, they were walking towards the end of the mall, where various odd stores were placed, such as music shops, stuffed animal depots, and salt-water taffy stands.

Yuugi's big purple eyes scanned the multitude of windows that proudly displayed their merchandise, suddenly becoming locked as flashes of brass and silver came into view.

Instruments.

Sugoroku stopped as Yuugi was sidetracked, watching his grandson with interest as he starred open-mouthed at a particular piece in the window. He was beginning to think Yuugi was going to need a towel to suck up all of the drool. "Oh," Yuugi said appreciatively, "isn't that a pretty sight."

Sugoroku walked over and noticed Yuugi looking at, of all things, a clarinet. The lack of shine let him know that it was not made of cheap plastic, but rather strong, well-oiled Indian black wood. Exactly like a clarinet should be fashioned. The silver-or was it chrome? He could never remember correctly-it shined with the gleam of polished rhinestones. Etching of irises and vines across the bottom helped to amplify the one symbol that was also etched in the middle, and the word underneath of that told what the symbol was. _Omega._

Yuugi licked his lips. "That ligature on there alone costs near a thousand yen." He pointed to the thick metal band on the mouthpiece that held on the read.

"Is that a good make, Yuugi?" Sugoroku asked.

Yuugi nodded. "The best. What I wouldn't give to use _that_ in school band. The rentals they let me use for free are nothing but crap. They're always flat, or sharp, depending on the mood they're in on any given day, and they're cracked all over. Pads of keys always fall off, lyres don't fit on them right, and the mouth piece always causes me to squeak."

"Well, why don't we go in and take a look?" His grandfather asked.

Yuugi shook his head dejectedly. "Ojii-chan, I couldn't ask you to buy that. You'd go broke. You could spend up to five hundred thousand yen on just that clarinet."

Sugoroku did his best to hide his pale face. "Surely they have some other ones in there to look at. And besides," he gave Yuugi a silly grin. "It's always fun to gawk."

Yuugi chuckled. "Oh, how true." Hefting some of the bags he carried to the other hand, he walked in ahead of his elder and began to look.

:_I am intrigued with these instruments you have in this time,_: Yami commented. : _They look much more complicated than anything I ever came in contact with._:

Yuugi couldn't help but grin a little. : _You just wait until you hear what all of them sound like together in an orchestra. You'll be awed into silence._:

"Can I help you?"

Yuugi looked up at the face of the young woman behind the counter, looking to be a working college student. Her silver hair was falling like silk around her shoulders, brushing against her back like fluffy cloud plumes. It was _long_. Her silver-blue eyes twinkled with good humor and a willingness to help.

"I'm just looking," Yuugi stated. "I play the clarinet at school, and like to stare avidly at all the pretty things I couldn't ever afford."

She laughed. "I feel the same way every time I go into a book store."

Yuugi nodded. "I feel your pain." He turned around and looked at some reeds that were on a turn stand, wincing at the cost. The good brands, such as Vandoren, were by no means cheap, either.

Sugoroku leaned up on the counter as Yuugi immersed himself in a music book. "Do you think you've got anything else in the way of good clarinets I might be able to get for him?" he whispered.

The cashier studied him for a moment. "That _Omega_ in the window is nice. _Very_ nice, but by no means inexpensive. I wouldn't even call it affordable." She pressed her lips together as she thought. "Well, you know…I might have something for you. Just a moment." She disappeared to the back, and the elder man heard quite a bit of rummaging around.

Yuugi looked up curiously when he heard a strange sound of triumph, but shrugged it off as he didn't find the source.

Mr. Motou raised an eyebrow as a yellow and brown case was brought before him, authentic leather binding on the sides. The young woman blew off a bit of dust, frowning a bit. "It's been back there for a while, but it's still in good shape. Here," she opened the latches in the front, prying open the lid. Mr. Motou picked up the dull looking wood pieces, scrutinizing it. "It's a _Le Blanc_," she stated. "French, obviously. Made in 1923. The cereal number only has four digits, one of the smallest you will ever see."

"It does look nice. Is there anything that might be wrong with it, to keep it in the back?"

The woman shook her head. "No, we primarily sell new things here. Most kids, especially those who start out with their first year, haven't developed their muscles in their mouth to use finely crafted instruments effectively. In fact, they usually end up damaging the nice ones, which is why they are saved for students who have advanced a bit further. This one here," she pointed to it, picking up one of the larger pieces, "weighs a bit more that plastic ones. It even weighs more than that _Omega_, and most people don't want to continually support that weight when they play."

Sugoroku nodded his head in understanding.

"Him, on the other hand," she nodded to Yuugi, "I believe will handle this beautifully. You can have it for fifteen hundred yen. I won't ask for any more."

"That's it," Sugoroku asked speechless. "That's all you're charging?"

She shrugged it off. "Hey, that old clunker got me through high school. _My_ father got it for me for free. I know how hard it is to get a good instrument, and I was infinitely grateful I didn't have to pay for it. I just need some gas money for the next week." She winked.

Mr. Motou took the cash out of his pocket at put it on the counter. "Thank you so much."

She smiled. "No sweat."

Right on cue, as it seemed, Yuugi walked up to the counter and looked at his grandfather. "Are we done, I suppose?"

His grandfather pointed to the open case. "Did you see that?"

Purple eyes moved to the wooden clarinet on the counter, and slowly grew bigger and bigger. "Is that…" he picked up the one of the larger pieces and turned it over, looking for the bar code. "My Goddess…this thing must be seventy years old!"

"Eighty one, to be exact," the woman said smiling.

Yuugi whistled appreciatively, putting the piece back. "I'm impressed. It's gorgeous."

Sugoroku smiled. "It's yours."

Yuugi looked up at him skeptically. "Mine?"

"All yours," the cashier said.

"You're kidding."

The woman grabbed a small blue cardboard box off of the counter, and tossed it next to the instrument. "We'll even throw in a free box of reeds. Size 4, I presume?"

Yuugi nodded dumbly. "Yeah…that's the size I use."

"You should really think about cutting your own," she said. "You've reached pretty much the top level already. I don't think they go beyond a 4 ½. I certainly haven't found them, though I've looked."

Yuugi closed the lid, bringing the clarinet case closer to him slowly. A silly grin was smothered across his face. "I don't believe this. Thank you, _so_ much."

The cashier smiled. "No problem. If you ever need any help, just look me up." She pointed to her nametag. "Liliu Astarte."

Yuugi had a hard time stopping his rampant 'thank yous ' as he and his grandfather headed out of the door, just as many of them directed at his grandfather as at the woman behind the counter.

Just as they were about to leave, though, Yuugi felt Yami's jaw mentally drop, and unhindered anticipation began to swirl around in the pit of Yuugi's stomach.

Yami's anticipation.

Off to the side was a small crowd of people, all sitting around a rather smug looking teenager who had a mess of cards in front of him.

_"Come on, who else will take on the Master? Are all of you people out there afraid to Duel me?"_

: _Yuugi,_: Yami pleaded. : _Let me play._:

The teenager shrugged. : _Of course, why wouldn't I? It's just Duel Monsters._: "Ojii-chan," Yuugi asked. "Is it all right if I challenge the over-confident _fellah_ over there?"

Sugoroku snickered. "You do know what _fellah_ means, don't you?"

Yuugi gave a cheeky grin. His sparkling eyes said it all. _Duh. I read the dictionary for fun. I know what it means._

Mr. Motou learned from his travels in Egypt that one never called someone '_fellah,_' for it was Arabic for peasant. Egyptian was no longer widely spoken there except by archeologists and Egyptologists, as Arabic was now the dominant language.

Yuugi set his bags down, now allowing Yami to take over their body as he walked over to the table.

The person sitting down had been rather obscured from view by the rather large crowd, but now that Yami had come closer, he could see who it was.

The person looked up at him and scowled. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the shrimp."

Yami grinned, showing canines that were slightly larger than normal. "Ushiro. Long time no see. How about a game?"

The bully cracked his knuckles. "Sucker. I'm going to cream you. If I win, I get that stupid hunk of gold around your neck, and I get the pleasure of beating you into a boneless pulp."

Yami inclined his head slightly, a malevolent gleam in his now blood-red eyes. "If I win, I get to deal you a penalty game. I won't discern what that is at the moment. Deal?"

Ushiro laughed. "You're not gonna win! Sit down, jack ass, and let's play."

Yami snorted. "_wxA._"

Ushiro looked at him oddly as he sat down.

Yami grinned devilishly as he pulled out Yuugi's deck of cards, beginning to shuffle them with a seemingly unpracticed ease. Yami's canines glistened even more. He was simply _itching_ for a good game, and Ushiro didn't realize that he had cause the dark spirit to have true, physical pain when he pried out one piece of the puzzle. Yami knew that it would be painful if one was ever removed, but it was the first time he felt the true reality of how much agony would shoot through him if he were separated from Yuugi.

And even though he had screamed himself hoarse in the small amount of time they'd been torn apart, Yuugi couldn't hear him. And the pain instantly disappeared when Yuugi put the puzzle piece back in place.

Yes, Ushiro was going to pay. And he was going to pay even further for the bruises he had given his aibou. Yami simply had to win his right to deal vengeance.

Ha. Like that would be hard to do.

The dark spirit placed his deck of cards down in the appropriate spot, crossed his arms, and waited. Ushiro looked at him confused, his confusion then resorting to anger. He didn't like it when people made a fool of him. "What are you wait 'n for, shrimp?"

Yami raised a regal eyebrow. "Aren't you going to cut my deck? It's custom, after all."

The bully sneered. "Custom? Since when does a little card game have customs? Whatever, I'll humor the little baby." His cronies around him laughed, and Ushiro grinned, liking the ill-placed support. He cut Yuugi's deck in half, and replaced the bottom half on top. Yami did likewise to Ushiro's deck.

They both drew five cards.

Ushiro smirked, liking his draw so far. "Okay, shrimp, I play one card face down in attack mode, and I put one magic card down. Move."

Yami looked down at his hand, contemplating what he should do. "All right, _Ushiro_." The bully snarled at the mocking of his name. "One card in defense mode, and two face down magic cards. I end my turn."

Ushiro got a nasty look of triumph. This was going to be too easy.

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Sugoroku watched the match from afar, the crowd and all of the purchases he was laden down with inhibiting him from moving any closer. Apparently, Yuugi was winning.

Quickly.

From the noises of anger and dismay and almost anguish coming from the other person Yuugi was Dueling, it was more than just a fast win.

It was a slaughter.

Suddenly, there was a cry from the table, and the larger boy stood up shakily, glassy eyes looking ahead of him in terror. "_I didn't mean it, Mama. Honest. Please don't make me do that! I…really! I didn't mean it! No!_"

He ran out of the mall, completely forgetting about his cards that lay in disarray on the table. Everyone around the table backed away from Yuugi, and his grandson stood, walking over to his grandfather…confused?   
  
"Yuugi, what happened," Sugoroku asked.

The young teenager shrugged, his eyes looking unusually red. "I don't know, Ojii-chan. He took the loss really hard." Yuugi scratched his head, reaffirming his query about the incident with the other boy. Shrugging, he picked up the bags he had set down earlier. "Are we ready?"

The elder man nodded. "Yeah, we're ready."

Did Yuugi's voice sound deeper? Did he look…taller?

: _Yami…what did you do to him_,: Yuugi mentally whispered, Yami still in control.

: _His past is coming back to haunt him. Only he can fix his internal hell._:

: _But **how**?_:

: _You need not know, aibou. There's no reason for you to immerse yourself in darkness as I have._:

Yuugi hissed_, _anger filling him. Who gave the spirit the right to decide what he could learn? Who gave _anyone_ the right to deny him knowledge? He could judge for himself what he wanted to know! Know one needed to shelter him! He did not have the mentality of a child!!!_ : I will be the judge of what I know. One way or another, I **will** find the information I seek. **No** **one** **will control me**_.:

Yami was beginning to realize that, even though his other half was kind and always warm in his arms…he wasn't always compliant.

In fact, if Yuugi didn't like it, he wouldn't put up with it. Not unless he was forced to.

And the last forced situation ended in blood.

A part of Yami became worried. Yuugi, so far, had shown to be a balance to him. But…if something pushed Yuugi's lust for blood hard enough, Yami wouldn't be able to stop himself from wanting to seek it out.

They would both end up wallowing in blood and pain and madness and darkness, and Yami wouldn't have the strength to pull either of them out of it.

_His past would come back to haunt him, too. _

Yuugi paused a moment when that little thought slipped into his mind, knowing it was Yami who had thought of it. : _Wherever I go, my giants travel with me._:

Yami receded control back to Yuugi, thus allowing him to lower his spiritual head. : _I am beginning to realize this._:

: _Henry David Thoreau. Maybe I'll find one of his books and let you read it, Yami. I think you might need to._: Whatever it was that happened to be bothering Yami, Yuugi knew that the answer was in a book. And if it wasn't in a book, then he could help Yami through it.

And Yuugi was beginning to realize that Yami did not deal well with opposition, either.

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Feed the authoress. Review!


	6. Heart Beats of the Bound

**When It's No Longer Cliche**

(sighs) Yet one more mistake I made. '_Lord what fools these mortals be'_ is from A Midsummer Night's Dream. I, sadly, have never read this one, which is why the quote was rather estranged to me. Gomen, ne.

And now, on to the story.

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_Nothingness. _

_Black and dark and nothing around him. He could close his eyes but it was just as dark as if his eyes were open. Could one imagine? Blink and not even notice? _

_He couldn't tell if he was standing or lying down. Didn't know if he was whole or half, didn't know if he was human or…something. _

_And it seemed that the solid blackness around him was nothing but ice. _

_Was this oblivion? Was this hell? A black void he was somehow sucked into? _

He memories were lost to him. And, for some reason that he could not fathom, he knew that they would be. He wouldn't get them back until…

_He didn't know what he was waiting for. _

_He used to try to move, every now and again. An arm he could not see, a leg he could not feel. _

_He could not feel his limbs moving, but he knew they did fractionally, because the one thing he could feel was the cold. And the icy chains that bound him in place cut into his flesh and dared him to try again. _

_And so he stayed where he was. Ignorant, cold, and direly alone. _

_So very, very cold. Perhaps that was why he was so numb? Centuries of shivering burning away all of his nerves? _

_He could never focus on a thought for long. He didn't think he had the capacity to, for as long as he could dwell on the idea. He would be depressed at his loneliness if he could think on it long enough. The darkness always seemed to distract him, to tease him, to hurt him. Cold and dark and unfeeling. It called his thoughts elsewhere, and seemed to force him to remain a mindless cube of ice in a sea of blackness. _

_And then, one moment later, everything changed. _

_Agony. Hot, white agony as he had never felt before seared into his skin and the fibers of his muscles and bones and soul. Tendrils of pain as delicate as gossamer and yet as sharp as razors ripped through him and became attached to his very being. _

_And for the first time in what **must** have been eons, he screamed. He screamed until he couldn't use his voice anymore. _

_And as he shivered and trembled and quaked with the earth-shattering pain that laced through his vision, showing him flashes of white and red in the abyss of nothingness around him, once his voice had recovered he could start screaming again. _

_Drop…drop…drop. _

_Pain…despondence…loss. _

_It wouldn't end. How long did he cry and cry? He couldn't reel into unconsciousness. He knew why, now. _

_He was dead. He'd been dead a long time. And yet, apparently the dead could still feel pain. _

_One memory flooded back to him. He knew what was causing the pain. **Magic**. _

_It was a part of his being. He ought to know what magic was. _

_Drop…drop…drop. Lightning landed on him like droplets in a rainstorm, and continued to rage unbearable agony and hurt through him. _

_It was getting worse. He could see…albeit a little. His skin. _

_It was squeezing around his limbs. It was becoming smaller. _

_No…it was melting. Right into the darkness he was chained against. _

_He couldn't think anymore. It hurt too much. Desperation clouded his thoughts. Bound. Locked. Burned into slavery. _

_Blood magic. Painful stuff that blood magic was. Gods above, why wouldn't it just let him die yet? His eyes were locked open, distraught. He was going to go mad. _

_And he had battled insanity for so long now… to lose the battle like this…_

_Hurt. Liquid fire pouring over him, sucking him into the endless abyss by way of turning him into liquid as well. Every nerve was on fire. Plasma hotter than a summer sun swarmed him and burned him and the stench of burnt flesh wafted around him and yet for some strange reason he was so very, very cold…it didn't make sense…let me die…_

Yuugi's eyes flew open, sucking in a lung-shattering breath. What a nightmare. A horrible, horrible nightmare. He barely registered how much he was panting, his heart having nearly jumped into his throat. He tried to sit up, but something was holding him down. His heart raced faster. _Chains? More icy chains?_

"Yuugi! Yuugi! Look at me, aibou!"

Wide and frightened violet eyes turned to look into concerned and equally frightened blood crimson. _Blood pooling out of skin to melt into dark, dark nothingness…_ Yuugi began shaking all over again.

Yami ran his fingers over Yuugi's face, brushing away the mass amounts of perspiration and soaked honeyed bangs from his features. "Calm down, Yuugi. It was just a dream. You're awake…and you're safe." Yami almost seemed…scared.

The teenager was still hazy, just beginning to feel the clutches of the nightmare loosen its grip on his mind. He suddenly noticed that his entire pajama shirt was soaked in sweat. "What…what happened," he croaked. His voice hurt.

"You started screaming, Yuugi. I thought someone might have broken in and hurt you, but…" Yami's eyes looked pained. "You were still asleep, and all you did was scream. I couldn't wake you. No matter how much I pried into you mind…I couldn't reach you."

Yuugi still quaked severely underneath of Yami, his breath short gasps for precious air. He'd never received nightmares before…what could cause such a horrid one now? "It was so dark…" he whispered. "So much pain…my skin was melting all around me."

The dark spirit frowned hard. "Have you ever had a dream like this before?"

Yuugi shook his head vigorously no.

Yami nuzzled the hollow of Yuugi's neck, cupping his face carefully. The young teen just now realized that Yami's right leg was wedged between his two. "Did I really struggle to get up that much?"

Yami trembled a little, too. "You almost threw me off the bed."

Yuugi looked over at his bedroom door. "Didn't Ojii-chan hear me?"

Yami shook his head. "No, I blocked the noise from leaving this room. I was…starting to panic. I couldn't reach you, and any interference makes it that much harder to try. I… felt the pain too, Yuugi. It filtered through our link."

Yuugi turned his face back into Yami's shoulder. "It's getting stronger."

The spirit nodded. Indeed, the bond that the two of them shared was growing in strength every passing moment. Stray thoughts that might just so happen to leak into the other's mind was becoming more chronic, emotions from one would flood the other's mind at barely a moment's notice. Fears were beginning to be shared.

Yes. Yami had started to panic. For not only could he feel the pain Yuugi's dream was causing him, but if something happened and Yuugi became lost to him permanently, so too would Yami become lost. Yuugi just wondered how much of Yami's concern was for him, and how much of it was for his own safety at Yuugi's well being.

It was probably a mixture of both.

Yuugi turned to look at the new clock on his bedside table. His alarm would ring in a few minutes. "I need to get up," he sighed.

Yami kissed his temple, brushing his fingers through Yuugi's damp tresses. "Are you sure you feel all right?"

Yuugi pressed his forehead into Yami's shoulder, hugging the warm figure on top of him. "Surely you can tell by now, too."

The strange sensation of little tendrils of energy poking his consciousness alerted Yuugi to the fact that Yami was finding out for himself. The spirit sighed. "Good. I just wanted to be sure, aibou. I _do_ worry about you, after all."

Yuugi kissed Yami's temple. "Thank you." Yami rolled over, thus allowing Yuugi to sit up. He stood, still a little shaky, and headed towards the closet to get dressed. The nightmare began to leave him almost completely as he started sifting through his new wardrobe, clean blue pants and shimmering black shirts now at his finger tips.

And the buckles. Lovely, shiny, hot looking buckles.

Yuugi felt a twinge in his stomach as he reached further into the closet for the new boots bought for him, yet more buckles adorning the sides.

Putting them on, pulling his pant legs over the tops, and putting on his backpack as he stood, Yuugi looked at Yami quizzically on the bed for a moment. The spirit stood and walked up to him, noticing the strange look in his eyes. "What is it, aibou?" An arm snaked around Yuugi's waist. The gnawing in his stomach receded.

"It…" Yuugi's brow knitted together as he tried to put the sensation into words. "It hurts sometimes…and others it feels like something is tugging at all of my muscles. Whenever you're out, I can feel it, and the further away you are, the more it hurts."

Yami nodded. "A side affect as our bond grows stronger. I've become a part of your very being. Here, feel." Yami took hold of Yuugi's hands, placing one on the artery in his neck, and the other on the artery in Yuugi's neck.

The teenager became more and more amazed as he felt the blood pumping through the veins. _Thump…thump…thump…thump._ "They're in sync," he stated in disbelief. "They're exactly on the beat. There is no differentiating between the two." Yuugi shook his head. "But I thought you were a spirit? How does this body have a heart beat?"

"Magic can make some unbelievable replicas of living creatures. This body is real, for the time being. It is alive, because my soul is making it alive. The magic in the puzzle destroys it every time I go back in, and then recreates it every time I come back out. If I were to stay out long enough, I would begin to need nourishment, just like you."

_Well…that explains why he can sleep with me so much. And why there is always the touch between us._

Yuugi digested this information slowly. "That's nothing short of a miracle."

Yami chuckled slightly. "Aren't we just full of miracles lately?"

Yuugi laughed. "Indeed, we are." He pulled away and began to head towards the door. "Another day of school, here we come." The tug on his body vanished as Yami slipped back inside of the puzzle.

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Jou and Honda walked into homeroom that morning a little worried. Yuugi had been gone from school for two days, and none of the teachers had heard much of anything.

As for those who had, they refused to divulge any information to the troublesome duo that questioned them.

And so when they walked in and noticed a small teenage boy sitting quietly in his desk reading a book, all decked out in new clothes and a good amount of leather accessories, it was quite understandable that their mouths suddenly dropped slack. "Is dat the runt," Jou asked, bewildered.

"I think it is," Honda replied.

Yuugi actually looked…content. His skin looked healthier, his hair shinier, his posture stronger. His clothes were new, and he was actually…grinning as he read.

"Is that the same kid," Honda asked.

Jou shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe he was abducted by aliens." The blonde walked up to Yuugi's desk quickly. "Yug'," he tried. "Where ya been?"

Yuugi looked up at Jou immediately. "Jonouchi," he asked, raising an eyebrow in question. "Is everything all right?"

"We were worried about you," Honda exclaimed. "You've been gone for two days!"

Yuugi looked at the two through slightly narrowed eyes, trying to puzzle together their concern. "You were worried about me? Why?"

"Well…we…" Jou rubbed his head sheepishly. "We were wonder 'in about you a few days ago, and kinda followed you home. We saw the place you lived…and…well…we didn't know if anything had happened to you while you was gone."

Comprehension dawned on the young teen. No wonder they had been worried about him lately. Pity, concern, the sense of duty to help.

But at least they had begun to take the initiative to try and help make things better for him, such as beating up Ushiro the other day when he had stolen the puzzle piece. "Yeah, I'm fine guys. Don't worry. And…don't worry about following me home anymore, either. I live at the Kame Game Shop now."

Jou and Honda looked at each other, their silent exchange stating the same thing. _That's why he was gone. Moving to the new home for…unspecified reasons._

"Hey, we're glad to see you're okay," Jou stated at last.

Yuugi gave a heartfelt smile. "Thanks."

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Yuugi sat down in his chair at band, slowly opening up his new clarinet case. He was going to relish every moment he could play this. No more squeaking! No more horrible intonation! No more bad keys!

Taking out a new read, he tasted the new wood flavor. However strange, he loved the taste of a new reed. He started to put it together. As he finished, he noticed something that made him grin further. _The bell isn't even cracked!_

"New instrument, Motou?" Mr. Moon asked him.

Yuugi looked up at the band teacher. "Un, sensei," he mumbled around his reed. "Just bought yesterday."

The sage green eyes of his teacher looked at the instrument appreciatively. "Good! My best player needed something a bit better than our cheap free rentals." He gave a thumbs' up. "Practice hard today, Motou."

"How else would I practice," Yuugi asked facetiously.

The teacher nodded, getting up on his podium. "No other way, of course!" He picked up his baton and waited, signaling the beginning of class.

Yuugi opened his folder, pulling out the first piece of music for the day. A slight pressure behind his eyes began, and Yuugi was glad to note that Yami was taking an interest in what he was doing. The spirit read what the sheet of music said at the top. _Finale, from the New World Symphony. Composer: Antonon Dvorak._

: _These little spots on the bars make sense to you, aibou?_: Yami asked.

: _Beautiful sense. Sit back and enjoy._:

The class quieted down, and the teacher nodded. "Good, B flat scale, everyone." He started to direct in a 4/4 beat; the same warm up they did every day. Yuugi suppressed a grin as he played, each note coming out flawlessly as his fingers danced up and down the instrument. The scale ended.

"Good. A three part round, and then we will begin. Low's, mid's, high's." The band obeyed, and played a beautiful chord at the end.

Yami listened intently as the piece of music began. It started out sounding rather dark and ominous with the low brass instruments, suspense weaving its way throughout every note as the clarinets and saxophones joined in. Yuugi's fingers began to move faster and faster the more he played, the intensity increasing as the flutes joined in the fray.

Just as Yami thought it couldn't get any worse, everyone suddenly stopped, and the low brass started the main melody, oozing with dark undertones. Soon followed, the rest of the band joined in.

It took a while, but eventually the mood lightened considerably, and the lighter it became the more Yuugi's fingers moved. He flipped the page quickly, moving on to the next style that would come in to play. No rests.

Yuugi was ecstatic. Not only was the sound coming out of his new instrument absolutely gorgeous, but also his diaphragm didn't hurt, and his lungs were able to suck in large amounts of air. The tone quality he was producing was the best he could ever remember. He tried not to laugh as he turned the page again, feeling mental eyebrows rise further and further as Yami noted just how long the music was.

But the sound was incredible. The dynamics were perfectly played, each note dictated and accentuated just as it was supposed to be.

The teacher dropped his arms and the band stopped, Mr. Moon beginning to flip back a few pages. "Trumpets, go back to section C. I want to go through some of your runs again. Remember, crescendo, decrescendo." The players flipped back a couple of pages, and started again.

Yuugi loved band practice, and had a feeling that Yami was developing a new appreciation for it, too.

: _And how many times do you play and replay this song, aibou?_:

: _As many times as it takes._: The teenager sat back as he waited for the trumpets to finish, putting Adagio underneath of his Finale score, the piece they would be practicing next.

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Yuugi repositioned his backpack, the strap digging into his shoulder a little. : _I need to drop off some of these books at the library. They're going to give me continuous back problems._:

: _Yes, but how many more are you going to check out?_:

Yuugi gave a mental sheepish grin. : _Umm…just four or five?_: He heard Yami give a highly audible sigh.

_Come on, punk…you've had this coming…_

Yuugi stopped when he heard yelling coming from around the corner, leading down into an alley. He winced when he heard the familiar sound of someone getting the wind knocked out of them.

_Fucking little…_

Yuugi walked to the opening to the alley, gazing at who was getting beaten up. _Oh, this is bad…_

The bully Takashi was pummeling Jonouchi, and Honda was pinned on the ground by one of his cronies. _He looks bad._ "Hey," Yuugi yelled. Takashi's big stupid eyes turned around and looked at him stupidly. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

The bully got a huge grin. "Someone like you?" He started walking his way, his huge mass spilling out of his clothes as he pounded his way over.

Yami took control of Yuugi's body, holding a fist dangerously at his side. " _Come on, wxA, fellah, nDs. Ad._" (Come on, fool, fellah, commoner. Be angry.) A happy grin spread on his face.

Takashi looked at Yami like he was crazy, instead choosing to ram into him.

Yami only needed to use a limited amount of energy to knock him unconscious.

Yuugi was given back control, and he walked swiftly up to Jou who was kneeling on the ground, holding his ribs. It appeared that the other bully who had held Honda down vanished the moment his buddy was rendered useless. "Are you all right, Jou?" Yuugi chuckled a little bit. "_So you, poor man, work out a cruel task such as I once endured when in the sunlight._" (The Odyssey, by Homer. Athena speaking to Laertes and Odysseus.)

The blonde groaned a little, giving Yuugi a funny look. "Yeah…m 'fine, Yug. N-never better."

Yuugi nodded. "Yeah, right…here. Let me help you up." With another growl of pain, Jou stood on wobbly feet. Yuugi helped Honda up too, who was a bit more silent. "Are you two all right? What happened?"

Jou shook his head, shaking the fog from his vision. "Hn…Takashi thought w…we might have done sump 'thin to Ush-Ushiro."

Honda snorted. "Don't know what happened to the…the…_thug_."

Yuugi nodded, a knot of…guilt? Growing in his stomach. No, that didn't seem right. He couldn't put his finger on it. _No…doing something bad and liking it, even if it's just a little bad thing. You know you're not supposed to…and yet you don't really care._ Yuugi hook his head. "I'm glad you guys aren't really hurt."

Honda chuckled slightly. "Yeah…thanks Yug. This means a lot to us."

Yuugi smiled. "I may not be a Christian, but you should do unto other as you would have them do unto you. _What goes around comes around._" He smiled. "I'm off to the library. See you guys Monday."

Jou gave his friend Honda a quizzical look as Yuugi walked away. "Strange kid," he muttered.

Honda nodded in concurrence. "At least he's on our side. How the hell did Takashi not beat the living daylights out of him?"

Jou shrugged, a little worried about that. "I'm…not sure. In fact, I'm not even sure I want to be sure."

Honda's eyes became a little crossed as he got confused. "Dude, you're making less and less sense today, but whatever. I'm gonna go home and puke my guts out until my stomach doesn't hurt anymore."

Jou gave a goofy grin. "Hey, _my_ favorite passing time aside from eating and sleeping."

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Up next… a little lime…a little fluff…a little angst. Yum. Feed the authoress. (Passes out review platter.)


	7. Broken Balance

**When It's No Longer Cliche**

To Dream Eater: You told me in the last line of the previous chapter that it's not 'passing time' it is, in fact, 'past time.'

Well, that wasn't technically _me_ speaking. That was Jonouchi. The lovable blonde doesn't have the world's best grammar. It was added in to accentuate his 'street punk' character.

Poor Jou.

But thank you for the review. I enjoy getting criticism. I enjoy even more beating it back down.

Oh, and one more thing, too. I didn't actually _do_ any research for the music part. Yuugi's clarinet is actually an allusion to one that I own. (The cashier at the music store is an allusion to the event of me giving it to him.) I have played in honors bands all over the state. Actually, I was a little worried that people would find that part a little boring, and a little distracting to the story, so I severely cut down on all that I was originally going to put in there. I love playing music, and have, in fact, played what Yuugi was playing in the previous chapter, too. If anyone actually wanted to read more of what happened, please, let me know! I'm not sure if anyone would enjoy it as much as they might some fluff. (Crickets chirp) Yeah, all right, I'd enjoy the fluff, too. But let me know!

On to the story.

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Yuugi tried to ignore the churning in his stomach as he read his new book. Yami rolled over on the bed, somehow causing it to do another flip-flop. Perhaps sitting at the desk wasn't such a good idea. He turned the page.

A sound behind him told him that Yami had gotten up from the bed, and was now walking up to him. Arms wrapped around his neck and shoulders, and he felt Yami look down at his book. "What are you reading, aibou?" Yami murmured into his ear.

"Rowling," Yuugi replied, smiling a little as one of the characters decided to rave about socks.

"What's it about," Yami asked further.

Yuugi let out his recent intake of breath, putting his bookmark in place and setting the book down. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to do much more reading. He turned around to face his darker side. "Magic and wizards."

Yami turned his head to the side curiously, starring intently at his other half. Yuugi was trying to puzzle together why Yami had interrupted him so abruptly. Was he…bored?

Yuugi's eyes widened fractionally, realization suddenly dawning on him. Of course Yami was bored! It was a Friday afternoon, and he didn't have anything to do. He'd somehow managed to finish all of their math homework during class, (Yuugi had still yet to figure out how he managed to do that) and he so far didn't show much of an interest for reading. Yuugi figured that he would watch television, if the whole idea of a person in a little box didn't make him think they were stuck in there. _He wants to spend some time with me._ The answer was painfully obvious.

Yuugi chuckled. "If you wanted to do something with me, you should have asked. I managed to find quite a few games around here."

Yami's face brightened considerably. "Really? What kind of games?"

"We have card games," Yuugi suggested.

Yami's eyes unfocused, and he looked like he just ate something sour. "No, no card games. Anything else?"

Yuugi searched through his memory for a different game that he had noticed. "We could play a board game. Want to try Monopoly?"

Yami seemed to think this over. "That sounds like a good idea. Let's play Monopoly."

Yuugi stood up, the small chair hardly hindering his movement as he managed to push himself further into Yami's embrace. Their cheeks touched softly, and Yami took the opportunity to burrow his face into Yuugi's hair. Yuugi felt his heart melt, breathing in the spicy scent of musk and desert air. Butterflies were doing summersaults in his chest. _I'm head over heals for him. I could spend all day wrapped up in his arms._

Yami touched his lips to Yuugi's neck once…twice…three times. Each one was soft, gentle, hardly the ghost of a touch. His skin shivered under the intimate caresses. A thought drifted swiftly through his mind, and he was almost certain that the idea wasn't his, but Yami's. It was such a distant thought, though, that it was hard to translate what it meant. What he did know, however, was that it was a warm, deeply intimate wish that made him melt and want to weep with joy. "The game's in the closet," he whispered. "Top shelf."

"We should get it down," Yami replied huskily.

Yuugi pried himself away with great reluctance, sliding his hands down Yami's arms to grab his hands, and led them over to the closet. Yami rested his hands on Yuugi's hips as the shorter of the two began to reach for the game, taking great pleasure in feeling Yuugi's muscles stretch to their maximum as he sought for the top shelf. : _Having a hard time, aibou?_:

Yuugi snarled. : _I hate being short._:

Yami grinned into his shoulder. : _I believe the correct term is vertically challenged._:

Yuugi's fingers snatched the edge of the box and pulled, wrenching it free of the other boxes on top of it. : _You're not any better. I'm five foot, so you have to be at the most five foot two. Short shit._:

Yami out-right laughed. : _No, vertically challenged shit._:

Yuugi couldn't help his laugh that escaped. He clutched the game to his chest, leaning back into Yami's embrace. : _Love you,_: Yami mentally whispered.

Yuugi held a hand up to Yami's neck. : _I haven't figured out why, yet. I'm not much more than an emotional basket case._:

Yami's hands moved from Yuugi's hips to wrap around his aibou's stomach. : _Yes, but you're **my** emotional basket case._:

Yuugi chuckled. "I haven't quite decided yet if that's a good thing or not."

Yami looked at Yuugi quizzically as he turned around, but did not comment further.

Yuugi walked to the middle of the bedroom, plopped down, and set the box in front of him. Yami sat down on the opposite side cross-legged. He watched as Yuugi removed the top and pulled out the board, unfolding it and setting it out. "So," he started. "What's the object of this game?"

Yuugi began to count out the money. "Each square on the perimeter is a piece of property, unless otherwise labeled. The object is to have the most money at the end of the game, and you generally get there by owning all of the property. Thus, creating a monopoly of the board."

Yami nodded. "Makes sense." He started picking up the different game pieces, scrutinizing their appearance. "What's this," Yami asked, picking up an object he didn't recognize.

"An iron," Yuugi stated. "Something that uses heat to smooth out the wrinkles in clothes. They're actually a quite recent technology, beginning to be made probably over the last three or four hundred years. The really old ones would have a compartment that you put hot coals into. Now days they're simply heated by electricity."

"Ah," Yami stated, setting it aside. He also noticed a horse, a little dog, a shoe, and a car. (He was beginning to recognize those, a fact that he was quite proud of.) "I'll take the horse," Yami stated.

Yuugi grinned, but didn't say anything. Yami could see the mischievous glint in his eyes. _Now just what is he thinking I wonder?_

"I'll take the iron," Yuugi smiled, putting his little piece on the 'go' space. He then handed out the money. "High roll goes first." He picked up the two dice, handing them to Yami.

The spirit in front of him rolled the dice, receiving a four and a three. "Seven," he stated.   
  
Yuugi nodded. "Good number, seven is." He picked up the dice and rolled, getting in turn a six and a three. "Nine."   
  
"Your turn," Yami stated.

Yuugi rolled the dice, getting a whopping two next. He scowled. "Baltic Avenue."

Yami smirked. "Still stuck down in the dumps, aibou?"

Yuugi grimaced. "For now. Just wait until I put some hotels on it." He put the slim amount of money for it in the bank, and sifted through the property cards, pulling out one of the dark purple ones. "Your turn."

Yami rolled, grinning as he got a number that brought him up to one of the light blue properties. He bought it immediately, placing his money back neatly in place. "Your turn."

Just as Yuugi picked the dice, feet began padding up the steps outside of his door. "_Yuugi_," his Ojii-chan called. "_Are you up there_?"

"Shit," Yuugi whispered, reaching up to his desk for his book. "Hide this stuff," he whispered quickly to Yami.

Yami smirked. "Why?" He quirked an eyebrow. "Worried?"

Yuugi hissed, opening his book. "Now wouldn't it look silly if he sees me playing Monopoly all by my self?"

Yami smiled, waving his hand to hide their game.

"Hai, Ojii-chan, I'm here," Yuugi called. His door opened up, and Sugoroku poked his head inside. "Oh, there you are. Good book?"

"Indeed," Yuugi replied. "What's going on, Ojii-chan?"

"I have to go out for a while, Yuugi. The groceries don't buy themselves, after all. Would you like to go with me?"

Yuugi shook his head. "I'm all right. You go have fun."

The old man chuckled. "Oh, always. I'll see you when I get home."

"Bye, Ojii-chan," Yuugi replied, and his door clicked shut.

Yami chuckled, giving Yuugi a sidelong glance. "_You go have fun!_"

Yuugi looked at his other sharply. "Are you mocking me?"

Yami attempted an innocent look. "I would never do such a thing!"

Yuugi scowled, unable to suppress the grin that was escaping. "You're a horrible liar!" He shoved his book off to the side.

"Am not!" Yami retorted.

"Oh," Yuugi cooed. "We sound mature." The young teen was only able to register Yami's slight shift in position when suddenly there was another body pinning him to the floor. "Umph," Yuugi groaned. "That's not fair! Let me up!"

"Okay," Yami agreed all too quickly, partially sitting up. Yuugi rested on his hands as he pushed himself up; waiting to see what Yami was going to do next. This was, after all, by no means over yet. Slowly, surely, he started to move up further, but just as he was almost free Yami rocketed towards him again, pushing him back and into the closet.

Something rumbled as it became dislodged from the top shelf, a suede cowboy hat landing perfectly on top of Yami's head.

The old spirit stopped in the middle of his pinning of innocent teenagers, looking at the hat curiously as he took it off. "This is the strangest hat I have ever seen."

Yuugi laughed. "Where in the seven hells did that come from?"

"What exactly is it?"

Yuugi chuckled. "Horse riders from the far west created these. Ojii-chan must have brought it back from one of his trips. These things don't even exist here." He took the hat out of Yami's hand and slapped it back on his head. "It looks good on you."

Yami looked down at him skeptically. "You're kidding, right?"

Yuugi smirked, bringing their faces dangerously close. "I never kid."

"No," Yami whispered. "Then you'll be honest with me, if I ask you afterwards, that you liked this?" _It's now or never._

Yuugi didn't have a chance to ask what he was talking about before soft, hot lips pushed against his. Finally, after days of smelling Yami's intoxicating scent and feeling his heat wrapped around him every night he slept, a taste was added to those senses.

Chocolate. Hot, rich chocolate and mocha and spiced rum. Yami's tongue slipped into his mouth, and he felt he could swallow the taste whole. Yami held him tighter when he moaned softly, clutching his darkness almost desperately. Yuugi couldn't think coherently anymore.

Far too soon Yami pulled away, bringing Yuugi's lower lip with him as far as it would go. Their breathing rapidly increased. "Well," Yami asked him breathlessly.

Yuugi cupped his hand on Yami's cheek, his thumb brushing slightly against moist lips. He was struck speechless for once in his life. That was completely unexpected. Had he ever truly thought of Yami in an intimate way before?

Yami bit his lip in apprehension. Yuugi had yet to answer him.

Of course he had. He was awe struck the first night he had seen Yami. What was he waiting for? He returned the kiss passionately. : _Five days I've known you, Yami. Just five._: He couldn't believe that he was in love so completely so quickly. This was unreal.

: _No, love. We've known each other for eight years._: Yami straightened, brining Yuugi up with him, holding him as close as physically possible. The kiss was still yet to be broken.

Yuugi started to silently weep. : _I think I'm falling in love with you._:

Yami started tasting his upper lip. : _You only think?_:

The butterflies that had only recently been doing summersaults in his chest began to flutter around in a giant frenzy. : _I've never been in love before. It doesn't matter how much I read about it, it won't let me know what it's like. I…I don't know what to think. I don't know what to do next. I've never felt so utterly helpless, and yet not feel in the least abandoned._:

Yami ran his fingers through Yuugi's hair, brushing his sunshine gold bangs into stark ebony tresses. His tongue was dancing around Yuugi's lips, savoring the flavor of vanilla and almonds. : _What do you want me to do right now, aibou?_:

Yuugi sighed audibly, dueling with the tongue that was now in his mouth again. : _Make love to me._:

Yami might have realized that one kiss could lead the both of them into a world of trouble. But then again, he had an affinity with getting in trouble, and usually enjoyed the thrill. : _Once we start, I won't be able to stop._:

: _I don't want you to,_: Yuugi mentally pleaded, slipping his hand between their chests that were pressed against each other so tightly and unbuttoning Yami's shirt. Yami heaved the both of them up, stumbling towards the bedside.

Falling on top of the young teen on the bed, Yami started to kiss the tears that escaped from wet violet eyes. He could feel, inside, that Yuugi was still emotionally bruised from his parents. Yami was the first person that had never left him, and he was the first person to comfort him at a moment's notice. He didn't know his Ojii-chan very well. Yami was really the only confidant he had, and his only true friend. His _best_ friend.

Would he regret this in the morning? Was he moving along too quickly? Yami was sure that _he_ was ready. He had been ready the first night the puzzle was finished. : _Are you sure you want this, aibou? Are you sure you won't regret this when you wake up?_:

Yuugi pulled away from their current kiss, looking up into Yami's eyes unblinkingly. : _No, cowboy, I won't regret this. I've been falling in love with you since the first morning I woke up next to you. I can't imagine a moment now where you're not in my life. And as they say, your lover his supposed to be your best friend._: Yami knew that Yuugi had heard his wary thoughts. Yuugi smiled, running his fingers up Yami's face to tap on the hat still on Yami's head. : _After all, I can't let the old adage go to waste._:

Yami looked at him questioningly. : _And what adage is that, my own?_:

Yuugi grinned. : _Save a horse, ride a cowboy._:

Crimson eyes grew in size. "I had no idea you had such thoughts."

"Just like you had no idea I read about blood and death?"

Of course, yet again, Yuugi was so easy to misjudge. When one looked so delicious, it was hard to remember the complexities that lied behind those intelligent, fragile eyes. He laughed, claiming Yuugi's now bruised lips as his own again, doing his own work on Yuugi's shirt.

Yuugi squeaked as they somehow slid off the bed and rolled, Yami landing on the Monopoly board harshly. Yuugi couldn't help but laugh as Yami groaned with the impact, even though game pieces were now being pressed into the previously pristine board. "Get off the game, get off the game," he chuckled, Yami rolling him over and landing on top again. He started attacking Yuugi's neck.

"Oh, this isn't any fair," Yuugi sighed, arching his back in pleasure. "Why do you get to be on top?"

Yami growled, nipping porcelain white skin. : _'Cause._:

Yuugi felt Yami's sex pressing against his own, his shirt falling from his shoulders swiftly. : _Not…a good enough…answer._:

: _'Cause I said so._: Yami moved up, nipping and sucking at Yuugi's lips. The teen could feel Yami's thought process slipping beyond reach, along with his own coherency. For some reason, the petty fight no longer seemed worth pursuing.

: _Make it long,_: Yuugi pleaded. : _I want to feel you completely._:

Yami growled in slight acknowledgment, his hand moving lower towards the zipper of Yuugi's pants.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Yuugi's head hit the pillow with a soft thump; sweat dripping down his temples and forehead. Somehow, they ended up making it back to the bed before the heavy activities began, clothes falling around them in a flurry of arms and legs and kisses. Yami collapsed on top of him, panting with exertion. Yuugi held him close. : _Love you Yami…love you so much._:

The spirit hummed in agreement, hiding his face in the hollow of Yuugi's neck.

Yuugi pressed on. : _I'm not going to hide you at home, anymore. Tomorrow, I'm going to introduce you to Ojii-chan._:

Yami was having a hard time finding enough of Yuugi to hold on to. He was wishing there was more to touch. : _Are you ready for any reaction he might have? Do you think he'll be able to handle it?_:

Yuugi thought back to when all of his colleagues laughed at him for his fanatical ideas about the ancient pasts of the Middle East and Egypt. : _I know he'll be able to handle it._:

Waves of contentment washed through their bond. : _All right, my love, my own. Tomorrow, Sugoroku and I will meet. Sleep well, aibou._:

: _Sleep well, lover._: Yuugi closed his eyes for the final time that night.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

_Gold. _

_That's what the world looked like. Gold and sandstone alight with colors. Pictures were depicted all over the walls. What a glorious sight; towering pillars, monstrous statues, and majestic obelisks seen outside of the open windows. _

_Where on earth was he? The sky was so clear, the sand was so gold. Marble floors stretched out under his feet, swirling with grays and whites and yet more gold. _

_He was dreaming. He had to be. _

_Then why could he feel the heat beat down upon him from the…desert sun? _

_He was in the desert. This he knew simply had to be true. _

_"Atep-ke! Come!" _

_He whirled around as the deep sound of a baritone voice roared behind him. He knew that voice. He knew it all too well. He knew what it sounded like when the owner was angry…knew what it sounded like when the owner laughed…knew what the voice sounded like when the owner cried out in the act of love making… _

_Could it be his-own? His love? Why did he sound so hateful? _

**_Yes_**_, it had to be. There he was, in all of his glimmering golden glory. A blood red cape billowed out behind his shoulders; clean white linen clinging greedily to his hips. Gold adorned nearly every surface of his sun-kissed bronze skin. He looked delicious, and would have given off that air, had it not been for the fact he looked ready to murder someone at that moment. _

_At such a young age, it seemed that frown lines were already setting in. But how could that be? The face was perfect, God-like in its beauty. _

_An older man with a baldhead and many beads of gold hanging around his neck strolled up to his Lord, angered brown eyes clouded over as if in storm starring down the one before him. "pr-aA? You called?"_

_The addressed snarled. "Where is it? Where are the priests? Sundown approaches." _

_He walked up to the one that looked so much like his lover. Could it be one in the same person? "Yami, is that you?" He asked. He received no response. "Yami, answer me! Where are we?" _

_Bloodied red eyes turned and didn't truly look at him. He knew this look by now. They were looking through him. "Meka-tet. You have it?" _

_He turned around, looking at the one addressed as 'Meka-tet.' Another man, shorter than Atep-ke, but wearing the same garb of a linen robe and jeweled beads. "Here," the man croaked. He looked almost dead with exhaustion. "We haven't slept in a fortnight to ready it for you, Lord Atemu." _

_The one that looked like his love growled dangerously low. "No one speaks my name, **commoner**. May the Gods forget mercy upon your soul." _

_His wide purple eyes grew wider than ever before, watching as this Lord Atemu extended his hand and seemed to release a purple gas from the emptiness of space around him. Like the hands of death it circled around Meka-tet and choked him, immobilizing him on the spot and searing his body with fire and pain. _

_Yuugi realized he'd seen this before. _

_But this couldn't be the one he had just made love to. It couldn't. They were two completely different people. "Yami, don't do this. He shouldn't die just because he spoke your name." Lord Atemu did not hear his pleas. It seemed no one else could, either. He was simply a spectator. _

_The man dropped to the floor in a boneless heap._

_Atep-ke picked up a gold object from the pile of burnt flesh tentatively, holding it for his Lord to see. "As soon as the other two priests get here, we can start the ceremony." _

_"And you know for sure it is fool-proof?" Atemu asked. _

_"Yes, my Lord." _

_"And that it will grant everything I wish from it?" _

_Atep-ke nodded sadly. "Yes, Pharaoh. Years from now, when an unfortunate soul stumbles across the puzzle that can rebuild it, you will be reborn again, immortal, and unbound to anyone or anything. You will be free to do as you wish, live a life that can not die, and full use of your magick and Power." _

_A nasty, sinister grin spread across the Pharaoh's face. "Good." He licked his lips in anticipation. "I look forward to tasting the blood of the one who completes it." _

_Yuugi shivered. Was this the past life of his beautiful Yami? Could it be? So cold? So bloodthirsty? _

_"Is there anything that could make this go wrong?" Atemu asked, just as two more robed priests joined them. _

_"Only if the one who completes it creates a painful ritual of blood magick to bind you to the puzzle, and thus to them. However, we are not certain what a spell like that could do to one's personality. You could be hopelessly infatuated with them, or you could want to kill them and be unable to because of the blood binding you. The likely hood of that happening, however, is almost impossible." The deep voice of one of the priests replied to the Pharaoh, unafraid as murderous eyes looked back at him unblinkingly. _

_"So be it." _

_Suddenly, Yuugi could see nothing but red, and could hear nothing but screams as the Pharaoh's soul was sucked out of his body and sealed into tiny little gold pieces, hardly bigger than a tiny toy block for children a piece. _

Yuugi shot up from bed, sweat pouring out of his pores again. Had any of that been real? What was it? Another dream? Another nightmare?

_It was a memory._

A memory. It was Yami's memory. "Aibou, are you all right?"

Yami's sweet voice resounded in his ears. Yuugi shot up from bed, pulling one of the sheets with him, turning accusing eyes back towards Yami. "Is that what you were like in the past? Is that why you were in the puzzle?"

Crimson eyes grew wide. "You saw that."

Yuugi growled. "Oh, yes. I saw. Is that why you're so crazy for me? My blood that became lodged in the puzzle sealing you into a spell to feel as much? That last nightmare was a memory too, wasn't it? That's what it felt like every time a drop of my blood landed on the partly completed puzzle. It was burning you into a bond you didn't want, wasn't it?"

Yami shook his head, his eyes befuddled. "No, no of course not!"

Yuugi's heart clenched in pain. "How much of what you say is influenced by magic? How can I believe any of this? If I had been healthy when I completed the puzzle, I could be dead right now!" A teardrop fell from his cheek.

"You wouldn't, Yuugi. I promise you!"

"Liar," Yuugi hissed. "If you wanted eternal life with blood and gore at and in your finger tips, I'll take the puzzle apart right now, clean it, and then put it back together. I'll wipe our bond out completely. Then you can kill me when you're free to think properly, and I'll save some hapless soul from stumbling across you next!"

"**_NO!_**" Yami stood up from the bed, ignoring the covers, and landed on his knees, all sense of shame and humility forgotten. Both were still naked as a newborn infant. "Don't do that! Please! I love you, Yuugi. Don't take yourself away from me! Don't erase our bond!"

Yuugi watched as the tears rolled out of Yami's face. His voice was quivering frantically. This was a completely different person from the memory. "Tell me, _Atemu_, how do I know I'm not truly keeping you from what you _really_ want deep down? How do I know that if you hadn't been burned into slavery, you would still be the blood-thirsty person you were five thousand years ago?"

Yami winced as his old name was spoken. He eased himself up to Yuugi slowly, tentative as he hid his face in Yuugi's sheet-covered abdomen. "I have proof, if that it what you truly want, my love."

Yuugi didn't dare to hope yet. "Proof?"

Yami shivered, as he detected no hint of emotion behind that one word. "Yes. Please…let me show you."

Yuugi thought about what that meant. To show him, Yami would have to show him a memory, and to show him a memory, he would need physical contact. _Forehead to forehead._ The young teen sunk down to his knees, looking into Yami's pained red eyes. "Show me."   
  
Swallowing, Yami nodded; very gently easing their heads together, closed his eyes, and concentrated.

_Atep-ke looked down at his Lord carefully, choosing his next words with great caution. "I have word from your cousin."_

_"Indeed," Atemu drawled, his outward appearance bored as he enjoyed a massage by the best hands in the kingdom. "And what has the hopeless dreamer discovered today?"_

_His Pharaoh was only going to scoff at this information. "He said that you will not fall in love in the next life time."_

_Atemu snorted. "Obviously."_

_"And he stated as well, that it will in fact be in the lifetime after that, that the merest whisper from your future beloved's lips will have you infatuated for eternity. Introductions will be nothing but a formality, and it will be but a few days before forever is declared between the two of you." Atemu snarled. "Impossible. There is only this lifetime and the afterlife. He just knows he's going to rot in Duat. wxA," he snorted. "And besides. It's nothing but a fanatical waste of time. Love is for the week."_

Yami looked at Yuugi sadly. "I was young, and direly stupid. Five thousand years in a frozen oblivion taught me that. Do you remember what the first thing was that I said, the moment the puzzle was completed?" 

Yuugi wrinkled his nose. "How could I not? What a dump." 

Yami nodded sadly. "Yes. Some of my old arrogance still with me. But the moment you whispered back to me, I was drawn to you like a moth to a flame. I used to think that pain was beyond me, and nothing could hurt me. Being cold, and being alone wrapped up in darkness, and then feeling your pain, it was wrenching my eyes open with a red-hot hammer. It is partly because of you I am no longer that person in my memories." 

Yuugi noticed that Yami's tears still had not stopped yet. "I don't want freedom now, if it entails us losing our bond. You are more precious to me than anything, and we have something that no other set of lovers can ever hope to have. We have an intimacy so deep I want to cry every time I even think about it. Don't go, Yuugi. Don't leave me." 

Yuugi looked at Yami sadly. "I was almost broken when you found me, and now you're almost broken now that you have me." He choked back a sob. "I don't know what to think anymore. I'm tired of trying." 

Yami held him close. : _I love you, honestly and truly. If there is anything I can do to regain all of your trust, tell me, and I will do it without blinking_.: 

Yuugi shook his head. : _How am I supposed to know? I just…I just don't. I'm so infatuated with you if you were to leave it would be the end of me. You know it, too. Something like this…something that had the possibility of crumbling us…it scares me more than anything I've ever had to face. Even going home to my parents each night.: _

__

Yami ran his hand across Yuugi's face, bushing away his tears. : _I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I was ever like that. That's not me anymore…not as long as you're around. You see, that's why your bloodlust for your father scared me. Because of my past self, if ever you were to have the want to hunt down blood…there would be nothing holding up my sanity to think the better of it. If you were to become corrupt, just as I did, I would fall into a bloody abyss that I could never climb back out of again.:_

Dear Gods…a balance yet again. Yuugi sobbed hard. "What are we going to do with each other?" 

Yami looked imploringly into Yuugi's eyes. : _May I kiss you again_?: 

The young teen wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. : _Yes… please_.: Sad, hungry lips devoured his, pushing the two of them back into the floor. _: May I make love to you again_?: 

Yami wanted to weep with joy. : _I was terrified that you'd never ask me again_.: This time, there were no clothes to hastily remove. 

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa 

Hmm…yum. Me…hungry. Feed authoress? Pretty please? (Looks at review box) 


	8. Chocolate Tease

**When It's No Longer Cliche**

Yuugi exhaled slowly, blinking his eyes a little as he stared up at the ceiling. The body on top of his was more than warm, helping to fend off the cold from the sweat that had dried on his skin. He twiddled the ends of his fingers at the hairline on the back of Yami's neck, relishing in the feel of his lover's skin. _I love you…_ Yami's mind voice was still echoing, even as he slept.

They were still on the floor. They hadn't even made it back to the bed. The sheet that Yuugi had carried with him earlier was now haphazardly strewn around the both of them, creating the impression of a wadded pillow beneath Yuugi's head and upper shoulders. There was still a knee wedged between his legs, and Yami's arms were wrapped possessively around the one beneath him. His brow creased a little in contemplation, a dull throb that promised ache when he finally decided to get up resounding in his lower back.

Yuugi saw that peaceful face out of the corner of his eye, still visible tearstains marring the dusky cheeks. He didn't feel guilty, though. He shouldn't, either. He knew he shouldn't, for he hadn't hurt Yami. Nay, he had far from hurt him.

No, what he did was scare him.

_But every story has two sides to look upon. He scared me, too. I couldn't bear to lose him, and that memory had the potential to turn my current reality into the fantasy that I feared it was and crush it._

The morning sun was just beginning to creep up over the horizon, spilling young golden rays across the edge of Yuugi's windowsill. Yuugi was still tired, but couldn't find the ability to fall back asleep. It couldn't be anymore than seven o'clock. They were just leaving the season of winter, so the snow was gone but the days were still a bit chilly and short. Normally, Yuugi woke up with the crack of dawn, but he didn't like to move right away. In fact, he usually snoozed for a couple of hours, and sometimes went back to sleep. At the moment, though, he was wide awake, and simply didn't want to move because of the fact that he felt so much more comfortable nestled in Yami's arms.

He supposed he was awake right now to have some reflection time, undisturbed and in a sea of peaceful silence. After all, it was the first time he had ever made love…and he knew that he was a little young for such activities. Were it to have been with another person, _any_ other person, he'd have said no. He would have insisted that, even if asked, he wouldn't make love to another until he was well out of high school. _Best laid plans gone to waste…yet again. At least it wasn't a terrible waste this time. Not with him. Never with him._

: Beautiful, precious love…don't leave…don't leave me alone…: Yami's arms tightened fractionally around Yuugi, and his breathing just left the relaxed stage as he slept on. : So dark…: Fears surfacing in dreams. Yuugi soothed those frightened thoughts, sending gentle waves of emotion through their bond, washing those fears away. No words, no pictures; just emotion, pure and untainted. 

Yami's breathing relaxed, and a tiny smile ghosted across his full, kiss-bruised lips. And who was to say that demons couldn't be angels, especially while they slept?

A bird chirped outside the window. He should be sleeping in right now. A part of him wanted to, but…a part of him was giddy with excitement at the prospect of spending an entire day with Yami. _If Ojii-chan accepts him, it will be the first whole day we will spend together with physical contact…and be consciously awake for it._

Ojii-chan. He and Yami were going to meet today. How would it go? Would his elder be suspicious? Would he not trust Yami? Common and completely justified worry, but the teen tried not to dwell on it at the moment. It wouldn't do much good right now, anyway. He would ease his thoughts and allow his beloved to sleep.

Yuugi closed his eyes, hoping to doze just a bit longer before life started to emerge in the house. The pounding of his Ojii-chan down the stairs would ensue shortly, and the sound of sizzling bacon and sausage would drift upstairs as he started to cook breakfast. Yuugi gave a half-grin. What _did_ he want for breakfast? A hot, home-cooked breakfast? He hadn't had one of those since…since…he couldn't remember. When his Ojii-chan took him out shopping last, they had gone out to eat.

The thought of a tasty meal sat loftily on his mind as a subtle drowsiness settled back over him, allowing him to sleep until the others woke up.

He would have slept longer, too, had Yami not stirred. Just as he blinked his eyes back open, not even realizing that he had dozed so long the sun was now well up and into the sky, sleepy crimson eyes looked at him lazily, pushing haziness from their depths. : _…Aibou?_: Yami yawned.

Yuugi smiled, unable to bring himself to disturb the happy silence of the room by use of his voice. : _Good morning, love._:

Yami smiled warmly. : _I was afraid last night had been just a dream._: He kissed Yuugi's temple softly.

: _It was no dream, lover. But I was terrified that your love for me had been just an illusion._:

Yami did his best to comfort Yuugi all that he could. : _I have never been good at living in a fantasy world. There is nothing about you that is not real in my eyes. I will **always** love you, no matter what happens to me or the puzzle._:

Yuugi was about to reply when suddenly there was a rumble against his abdomen. Both Yami and Yuugi looked down, and the spirit looked puzzled.

"Yami," Yuugi started. "Your stomach just growled."

Yami sat up a little bit, holding his hand at his stomach. "I'm…hungry? What a strange sensation. I haven't had anything to eat in…"

"Five thousand years," Yuugi supplied, smirking. "I'm sure there's some breakfast downstairs. You've probably been out of the puzzle long enough to need nourishment."

"Or had enough activity to need nourishment," Yami corrected, gazing at the door to downstairs.

Yuugi chuckled, got up, and got some clothes. "I don't know about you, but I need a shower before I do anything else."

Yami gave Yuugi a playful look. Yuugi scoffed. "You dirty old man!"

Yami laughed.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Sugoroku Motou turned around from the counter as he heard the sound of feet padding down the hall and into the kitchen. Just as he suspected, Yuugi walked in looking a little sleepy, but with a refreshed smile, his hair still damp from the shower. "Ohayo, Yuugi. Sleep well?"

Yuugi chuckled lightly. "Like a rock." He yawned, causing the puzzle against his chest to move slightly, glinting in the sunlight coming in from the kitchen window. "What's for breakfast?"

"Omelets. What would you like in yours? Cheese? Ham? Bacon? Onions?"

Yuugi dropped his arms, giving his elder a look that was not contemplation food options. Something was coming.

"Ojii-chan, there is someone that I want you to meet. He's very important to me, and I hope that you give him a chance, and get to know him."

Mr. Motou turned down the fire on the stove. This could be a while. "Well…all right Yuugi. Where is this person? Would you like me to meet him after breakfast?"

"No," Yuugi stated, shaking his head. "No, I think now would be good." Yuugi turned his head to his right, and for a moment nothing happened.

But only a moment.

It was the same way vision was distorted by waves of heat bouncing off of a summer road. Slowly, like weightless liquid, color began to take shape in that mass of swirling nothingness, and then…

Another Yuugi was standing there.

Sugoroku had to take another look. No, this _wasn't_ another Yuugi. This other person had hair like Yuugi, but he had many more blonde streaks. And he was a little taller; two, maybe two and a half inches. And his eyes…those deep, hard crimson eyes.

And his skin was darker, too. His facial structure looked familiar. Sugoroku should know. He'd seen it time and time again. High cheekbones, hard placed eyes, deep, sun-tanned skin…he was Egyptian. "Yuugi, where did he come from? I swear, just a moment ago-"

"He wasn't here," Yuugi asked. His grandson nodded. "He came from the puzzle, Ojii-chan." Yuugi hadn't wanted Yami to go back into the puzzle, thereby ending his need for any nourishment that morning. Instead, Yami walked down cloaking himself, and removed the invisibility shield when Yuugi gave him the cue. After all, he was looking forward to breakfast. "His name is Yami. Yami, I want you to meet my Ojii-chan."

Yami stepped forward a little, giving a small bow. "Greetings."

Sugoroku was started to think faster than he'd needed to in a long time. There was a lot of information that was just told to him in this short introduction. Firstly, Yuugi had said _This is my Ojii-chan_, rather than saying _this is my Ojii-chan Sugoroku_. Yuugi probably knew exactly what he was doing introducing him this way. Yuugi didn't want this Yami to see him as just another person in the room. He wanted their relationship to be closer than that. Thus, having Yami refer to Sugoroku as Ojii-chan as well.

This also meant that Yami _did_ mean a lot to Yuugi, to want him to be as close to his only caretaker as he was…

Or at least, growing to be.

But there was another part of Mr. Motou's mind that was racing at the moment, and that was all of the legend and lore of ancient Egypt he'd ever studied. One woman…there was that one woman in the Cairo museum that wanted him to know about a certain pharaoh.

She saw the box filled with puzzle pieces that had been given to him by his colleagues. _There is a pharaoh, from the far off past, that is rumored to have been trapped. He was young, and the power had gone to his head faster than bubbling champagne. He wanted immortality more than any other Egyptian that ever wrote down their history. His underlings found a way. By creating a powerful object crafted of the finest gold and electrum, they were able to seal him inside, until the object was found, completed, and the life force of the one who completed it enacting the ability for him to come back, more powerful, and more wretched than ever. But the pharaoh had been fooled…the object was made impossible to complete, thus, trapping him in a cold darkness for all eternity. Be warned…do not be the unlucky soul who stumbles across this object in the tombs of Saqqara._

Sugoroku had worked endlessly in that ancient tomb. It was, in fact, the very first pyramid in Egypt, now nothing but a set of rotting steps that shadows the now extinct city.

_He came from the puzzle…_ Could Yami be-? Is he the-?

"Yuugi…who is he? Where did he come from, _exactly_? Does he know who he is? Is he alive? Who was-?"

Yuugi smiled. "I know what you're thinking of, Ojii-chan. You told me a long time ago about the pharaoh who had been double-crossed by his council. This is, in fact, one in the same person. He _was_ Pharaoh Atemu, but that was a long time ago. That is not him anymore."

"But his body, how is he here? Is he truly immortal?" Stunned? Oh, that was an understatement, Sugoroku could hardly believe his eyes. And ears.

"I am alive, elder, because Yuugi is alive. I will remain immortal and un-aging so long as Yuugi is alive and wears the puzzle. The spell was altered."

"But, how-?"

Yuugi walked forward, looking back at Yami with a look in his eyes that his elder could not read, but apparently this ancient spirit understood, as he stayed back as Yuugi continued to walk forward towards the elder man. "Ojii-chan, I know this is hard to accept at the moment. Believe me, if it wasn't for Yami, I wouldn't _be_ here right now. He has already saved my life on more than one occasion." He held the puzzle up, poking his fingers at the minute cracks on the surface. "The spell wasn't supposed to work that way. I saw a memory from him by accident, and I watched him be told that the only way to alter the outcome of his confinement was by way of powerful blood magic." Yuugi shook his head, and Mr. Motou could now see that the puzzle was not entirely clean. There were little spots that were flaking off here and there. Very small but all the same-

It was the color of old rust and muted black. Dried blood.

"I never would have believed that anything that held a connotation for 'magic' was fantastical dreaming, but," he looked back up again, and there was an old pain in his deep purple eyes that would probably never leave. "That's _my_ blood in the puzzle, Ojii-chan. I unwittingly bonded Yami to myself. He couldn't leave now, even if he wanted to."   
  
Sugoroku shook his head. "You weren't supposed to be able to finish that." And the blood...it made him shiver.   
  
Yuugi nodded. "I know. But, please, don't be wary of him because of his past. I love him, Ojii-chan. I couldn't be separated from him now."

Mr. Motou looked at his grandson, and then he looked back at Yami, who was standing idly by the fridge, far away from their conversation. He seemed to have found something that managed to capture his interest, as he kept pulling the magnets away from the fridge, and then watching as they reattached themselves. Funny…his hair looked as damp as Yuugi's. _Just_ as damp. Someone had to jump in the shower first…right?

Aged purple eyes became wide. "In love, would you just so happen to mean-?" He didn't finish his sentence. He couldn't.

"Intimately," Yuugi supplied. He nodded.

Sugoroku was silent for a moment. This was going to take a bit of digesting. "And how long as he been in his own body?"

"Since Monday night," Yuugi replied softly.

Silence again. "Ahh," he gruffly sighed, running his hands through his hair roughly. For a moment, it felt like something inside was going to crack. Instead of fighting it, however, he let it, and allowed the shards to fall where they may. "What the hell," he finally asked helplessly. Really, there was no fighting this. Change Yuugi's mind?

That might happen on a cold day in hell.

Walking up to Yami swiftly, he looked at him pointedly, waving a shaking finger. "You, if you ever, _ever_ do anything wrong, if you just so much as step on _toe_ out of line I'll…I'll…" Yami didn't looked in the least bit worried as he gazed at that finger moving up and down in front of his face in warning.

Sugoroku sighed, dropping his hand. "Welcome to the family, Yami."

Crimson eyes grew warmer. "Thank you, Mr. Motou."

The sound of grease singing captured the elder's attention, and he turned around, seeing Yuugi flipping the barely, burnt omelet on the stove. "Ojii-chan, your breakfast is almost ready."

He walked over, got a plate, and handed it to Yuugi. "You know, son, sometimes I just don't know what to make of you."

Yuugi laughed. "When do you ever know what to make of me?" He pulled out another two eggs from the egg carton next to him, cracked, them, and started the next omelet. "I want cheese and bacon in mine. Give Yami lots of onions and some ham."

His grandfather gave him a funny look. "How do you know he likes onions?"

Yuugi winked. "Call it intuition." His eyes flickered over to the fridge where Yami was still standing, seeing the old spirit now thoroughly immersed in its contents. Yuugi raised an eyebrow curiously as he watched Yami's backside scour the inside, and when he came back out again, he seemed to be rather enjoying a substance that was inside of a little white container.

At first Yuugi thought that it was really odd that Yami would like sour cream so much to eat it plain, when suddenly Yami's grip shifted, and Yuugi saw a cow surfing on a wave of chocolate pudding. "Yami!" he barked. "You're not supposed to eat pudding for breakfast!"

Said spirit took a curious look at the pudding container, and then looked back at Yuugi defiantly. "And why not?"

Yuugi growled, stalking back over to his other. "Because it's not healthy, it costs a lot of money, and _I_ was saving that for desert tonight!" He plucked the pudding container from Yami's hand.

Crimson eyes looked between the container and his empty hand, suddenly snatching it back and running around the table in the kitchen. "You can't deny a _king_ a tasty treat!"

Yuugi gave way to chase, intent on getting that pudding container back. "I'll deny you a warm bed tonight!"

Sugoroku watched as Yuugi tackled Yami to the floor, and kept on watching as the container went flying, the majority of it landing on Yami's head. Two gasps escaped from the both of them, Yuugi at first looking angry at losing his desert until he saw the absolutely horrified look on Yami's face. "My _hair_," Yami whispered, shocked.

Yuugi laughed. "Serves you right!" He got up, and pulled the almost comatose Yami over to the sink. The elder man watched interested as Yuugi shoved Yami's head into the sink and began to clean the chocolate covered strands. They were chuckling about something, but whatever it was, he couldn't hear what they were saying. "We _were_ planning on going out today to the mall for some new school supplies. I am _not_ letting you out of this house looking like a particularly large dog sat on your head for far too long." He ran his fingers through Yami's hair again, pulling the last of the pudding out, and turned off the sink.

"No? What was wrong with the way I looked?" Yami asked playfully. "Maybe you need a new look, too, aibou." Yami pushed his sopping wet head of hair straight into Yuugi's chest.

Mr. Motou found the two of them sprawled out on the kitchen floor a moment later, laughing themselves hoarse. He realized that this was their first weekend together. Ever.

What an odd revelation. They looked like they'd known each other since they were in diapers.

When they stood back up, Yami's hair was only damp, but Yuugi's shirt was dripping wet. "That was just _mean_," Yuugi huffed between his smile. "Very mean!"

Yami laughed, too, pulled Yuugi into his arms, and planted a soft kiss on his cheek.

"All right, come on you two! These omelets are going to be cold and burned if we don't eat them!" Red and purple eyes looked over at him and blinked. "Do I still get to have some chocolate pudding?"

And so the chase began again.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Yuugi and Yami stood next to each other, gazing at the Duel Monster cards on display at a game store inside of Domino Mall. "I wouldn't mind one of those," Yuugi pointed out, a card with a silvery surface glinting at them in enticement.

"Mirror force _is_ a nice card, but easily countered," Yami replied.

"Yes, but most people are too stupid to figure out how to."

Yami laughed, hugging Yuugi to his side. He was about to say something else, too, until the squeal of some dying creature behind them filled their eardrums painfully.

"Aren't they just adorable," they heard someone say. Yuugi stiffened, becoming nervous, and turned around, Yami following suite.

Three girls stood in front of them now, all decked out in long skinny legs, short skirts, pastel shirts and too much make up.

"Yuugi," Yami whispered. "What are those thing?"

Yuugi looked on with terrified eyes. "Modern girls." He shivered. "They're monsters. Aliens. Not of this earth."

Yami was silent for a moment as they started to walk over, gaggling amongst themselves. "Should I kill them?"

"No, don't kill them!"

He did some more thinking. "Should I send them to the Shadow Realm?"

Yuugi looked at Yami confused. "The what? No, don't do- oh no. Here they come."

One of the girls that came up had short brown hair and sparkling blue eyes. "Are you two brothers?"

Yami blanched. Like hell. "No, we're not." Yuugi was too dumbstruck to say anything.

"Hey, stud, how about a date," one of the other girls asked, winking at Yami.

Yuugi snarled. : _Yuugi, what's a date,_: Yami asked curiously.

: _Modern terminology for getting to know someone more intimately, without actually hopping in bed the first night._ _Basically it's modern-day wooing._:

Now it was Yami's turn to snarl. "I already have one," Yami stated smugly, then quickly turned Yuugi towards him and gave him a passionate kiss.

Yuugi rather enjoyed it, and wasn't even bothered by the obnoxious noise as the girls moaned in mourning. "You see," the brunette stated sadly. "All of the good ones are either taken or gay."

The girls left, and Yami broke the kiss off reluctantly. "Tease," Yuugi panted, smiling. "You're pretty good at chasing off unwanted vermin."

Yami laughed, starting to pull Yuugi towards an ice cream stand, where Sugoroku just so happened to be standing. "I do have my good qualities." He nodded at the ice cream advertisement. "I want to try some of that stuff…whatever it is. I saw a treat that said chocolate, so I know it has to be good."

"You're developing an addiction to chocolate," Yuugi stated.

Yami gave him a sinister look. Oh, the things he could become addicted to…"Well, I _could_ stop my addiction, but then what would happen to you? Our bed would be awfully cold from now on."

Yuugi gazed at his other from the corner of his eye. "Don't make a threat you can't keep." : _You can't resist, and you know it._:

: _Doesn't mean I have to come to terms with that quite yet._:

Suddenly, just as Yuugi started to laugh again, they found an ice cream cone underneath of each nose. "Would you like some," Sugoroku asked them? "It's good!"

Yami found yet another thing that he could become addicted to.


	9. Doubles and Onions

Hello there, everyone. In case anyone wanted to read this, it's the extended version of the band scene. I hope you enjoy it. If you don't want to read it, feel free to skip on down to the continuation of the story below. Thank you!

**xxx** _Band Practice, 101_ **xxx**

Yuugi sat down in his chair at band, slowly opening up his new clarinet case. He was going to relish every moment he could play this. No more squeaking! No more horrible intonation! No more bad keys!

Taking out a new read, he tasted the new wood flavor. However strange, he loved the taste of a new reed. He started to put it together. _Mouthpiece goes in the barrel; the barrel goes into the first finger piece, first finger piece into the second finger piece, and then the bell._ As he finished, he noticed something that made him grin further. _The bell isn't even cracked!_ 

"New instrument, Motou?" Mr. Moon asked him.

Yuugi looked up at the band teacher. "Un, sensei," he mumbled around his reed. "Just bought yesterday."

The sage green eyes of his teacher looked at the instrument appreciatively. "Good! My best player needed something a bit better than our cheap free rentals." He gave a thumbs' up. "Practice hard today, Motou."

"How else would I practice," Yuugi asked facetiously. He put on the ligature, and then started to apply his reed. _Stubborn-ass things. If they're not on right they don't like to play properly._

The teacher nodded, getting up on his podium. "No other way, of course!" He picked up his baton and waited, signaling the beginning of class.

Yuugi opened his folder, pulling out the first piece of music for the day. A slight pressure behind his eyes began, and Yuugi was glad to note that Yami was taking an interest in what he was doing. The spirit read what the sheet of music said at the top. _Finale, from the New World Symphony. Composer: Antonon Dvorak._

: _These little spots on the bars make sense to you, aibou?_: Yami asked.

: _Beautiful sense. Sit back and enjoy._:

The class quieted down, and the teacher nodded. "Good, B flat scale, everyone." He started to direct in a 4/4 beat; the same warm up they did every day. The names of the notes hardly hit his mind before the next one was played. He usually didn't pay attention to the note names, and didn't, even though he probably should have, pay too much attention to counting. He played by feeling the beat. Numbers rarely ever entered his head. Yuugi suppressed a grin as he played, each note coming out flawlessly as his fingers danced up and down the instrument. The scale ended.

"Good. A three part round, and then we will begin. Low's, mid's, high's." The low brass started off the round; euphoniums, tubas, trombones, French horns and bass clarinets starting out with the root of the chord. Next came the bassoons, trumpets, cornets, saxophones, and lower register clarinets. Followed were the beautifully high notes of the flutes, oboes, and higher register clarinets. The chord at the end was magnificent.

Yuugi got a giddy grin as he realized he could try something he'd been meaning to lately, but didn't have an adequate instrument to try it. And just as a runner came in from the office with a note for the teacher, the class started talking and gave Yuugi the chance to give this new trick a whirl.

Playing a middle C, Yuugi created a good, solid tone. The girl next to him thought he was doing long notes, when suddenly Yuugi adjusted his throat, and hit the upper register without hitting the octave key. She was surprised even further when he hit an even higher register, still not using any other keys. Yuugi moved up to the middle D, and did the exact same thing.

It worked! He didn't have to use the octave key if he didn't want to!

He went to the open G, and found that the tone quality was not what it could be. He needed more practice.

"How did you do that," the girl next to him in the second chair asked bewildered.

"You have to adjust your throat," Yuugi stated. "Try making your air passage larger. It's actually not too hard."

She smiled. "Oh, I can't wait, that's so cool!"

The tapping of the baton on the plastic stand of the teacher called everyone back to attention. "Sorry for the intrusion, everyone. Back to Finale." Yuugi listened expectantly for his cue. The band started, and the first notes always made the young teen think of the theme music for 'Jaws.' 

Yami listened intently as the piece of music began. It started out sounding rather dark and ominous with the low brass instruments, suspense weaving its way throughout every note as the clarinets and saxophones separated to create their own melody and counter melody. Yuugi's fingers began to move faster and faster the more he played, the intensity increasing as the flutes joined in the fray.

Just as Yami thought it couldn't get any worse, everyone suddenly stopped, and the low brass started the main melody, oozing with dark undertones. Soon followed, the rest of the band joined in.

It took a while, but eventually the mood lightened considerably, and the lighter it became the more Yuugi's fingers moved. He flipped the page quickly, moving on to the next style that would come in to play. No rests.

Yuugi was ecstatic. Not only was the sound coming out of his new instrument absolutely gorgeous, but also his diaphragm didn't hurt, and his lungs were able to suck in large amounts of air. The tone quality he was producing was the best he could ever remember. He tried not to laugh as he turned the page again, feeling mental eyebrows rise further and further as Yami noted just how long the music was.

But the sound was incredible. The dynamics were perfectly played, each note dictated and accentuated just as it was supposed to be.

The teacher dropped his arms and the band stopped, Mr. Moon beginning to flip back a few pages. "Trumpets, go back to section C. I want to go through some of your runs again. Remember, crescendo, decrescendo." The players flipped back a couple of pages, and started again.

Yuugi loved band practice, and had a feeling that Yami was developing a new appreciation for it, too.

: _And how many times do you play and replay this song, aibou?_:

: _As many times as it takes._: The teenager sat back as he waited for the trumpets to finish, putting Adagio underneath of his Finale score, the piece they would be practicing next.

And so they played. In fact, they ended up playing just that piece all hour, which was usually what ended up happening. Their teacher would become so focused on what they were currently working on, he didn't want to stop. It had to do some good, though, for they always received a lot of compliments at concerts and competition.

Yuugi's fingers were feeling a little numb as they entered their last phrase after five pages of straight music, the notes so fast he didn't even think about timing and note names. He just played. _High note, high, high, trill….last note._ He took the clarinet away from his lips.

Another girl two chairs down panted. "I can't feel my lips," she frowned. "I need more practice."

: _I'll say,_: Yami stated. : _She's two chairs down._:

Yuugi laughed, and his teacher gave him a funny look, knowing most people didn't talk to him and so none of them could have made him laugh. 

**All Done!!!**

When It's No Longer Cliché 

Yami walked into the living room, stretching his arms as he did so. It was now the late afternoon, and the whole house was almost deathly silent. Sugoroku was manning the shop for the next three hours until closing. Most of his weekend business came in during Saturday afternoons.

Yuugi was asleep on the couch, curled up and nestled next to a pillow. Yami's heart almost melted at the sight. Coming up to him silently, Yami picked Yuugi up with a quiet ease, sat down on the couch, and put Yuugi in his lap, wrapping his arms around the teen's small waist. Yuugi stayed asleep, sighing deeply as he was settled against Yami's chest. : _I was wondering when you were going to come back. The gnawing in my stomach was about to drive me mad. It hurts when you're away. :_ 

Yami hid his face in Yuugi's soft ebony tresses. : _I know. I beginning to think that I'll have to go back into the puzzle for a while. My physical presence is putting an enormous strain on you. :_

Yuugi frowned, both mentally and physically. : _I wish you didn't have to. I like being with you, and seeing the expressions on your face. I like to hear your voice, too. Mental speech is not always enough. :_

: _I know, but it won't be for long: just enough to rest for a while. You normally don't take naps, and here you are, trying to sleep in the middle of the afternoon. I'm tiring out not only myself, but you as well. :_

Yuugi sighed hard. : _You'll be there when I go to sleep tonight?_ :

: _I wouldn't be anywhere else in the world. I will go back into the puzzle after you fall asleep tonight, and then be out again before you wake. :_

Yuugi smiled happily. : _I can live with that._ :

 Suddenly, Yami's stomach growled viciously. "I think I'm hungry," he mumbled.

"Hmm," Yuugi replied. "What would you like to eat?"

Yami kissed Yuugi's forehead tenderly. "Something with spinach and onions."

Yuugi turned around, looking at Yami with a slightly worried, slightly perplexed expression. "Spinach and onions?"

Yami frowned. "Food has changed a lot over the years, hasn't it? What do you have to eat in this time?"

Yuugi dropped his head back on to Yami's chest. "Well, we could order out for some sushi. I'm not sure how much you'd like it. Or perhaps…" he trailed off as he thought. "There's some recipes in the kitchen. My Ojii-chan isn't too bad of a chef. There might be something I could whip up for you. Maybe he even has some recipes of food the Egyptians eat. It can't be too complicated to make." He sat up and gave Yami a chaste kiss. "Let's go rummage and find what's in there."

"I'm game."

Yuugi hopped up and traipsed into the kitchen, Yami trailing behind him. The old spirit watched curiously as Yuugi opened up one of the cupboards, pulling out some thick books and plopping them on the counter. Yuugi began to flip through them, wondering if perhaps he could find a recipe and improvise or improve on it. "Ah, here's one," he stated, pointing his finger at a page in the book. "It's a pastry crust. If you like onions and spinach, I could make you some stuffed pastries. They shouldn't take too long."

"You bake," Yami inquired.

"The best in my foods class at school. The blueberry pie I made for extra credit was better than what you find at bakeries."

Yami raised an elegant eyebrow, but commented no further.

Yuugi pulled out a large Tupperware container of flour from the lazy Suzan, the container of shortening, sugar, salt, and some milk. "Anything I can do," Yami asked.

Just then the doorbell rang, and Yuugi was finding himself dusted in flour. "As a matter of fact, you can get the door," Yuugi replied, fishing out some measuring spoons from the drawer.

Turning about, Yami walked out of the kitchen and to the back door of the house. The 'front' door was actually through the game shop that was directly attached to the living quarters. Whoever was at the back door, they started the ring the doorbell over and over again. "I'm coming!" Yami barked. Reaching for the knob, Yami turned it and pulled the door open, glaring at the person on the other side.

Or make that _persons_.

"Oh, uh, hey dere Yug. How's it go 'in?"

Yami looked up at the shocked expression of Jou's face, Honda standing right next to him. "Fine," Yami replied, "but I'm not Yuugi."

Two sets of eyes blinked. "Ha! Yeah right, Yug. Real funny. We was just wondering if ya wanted to go to the arcade with us."

Yami took his turn to blink back. It sure was annoying when someone didn't believe you. "I'd prefer not to, but like I said, I'm not Yuugi."

"What are you talk 'in about," Honda inquired.

"I'm. Not. Yuugi," Yami reiterated yet again. "Yuugi is in the kitchen. I'm Yami."

The two teens stood speechless.

"Would you like to come in," Yami asked.

"Uh…yeah, sure." Jou replied, him and Honda cautiously walking in, giving Yami wary looks. Coming back to the kitchen, Yuugi came into view, working pastry dough in his hands readying it to roll out on a large wooden chopping block. He smiled when he looked up and saw Yami coming back, but his smile faltered and sunk into a look of shock to see Jou and Honda following a safe distance behind. The skeptical teens forgot to close their mouths as they very nearly dropped to the floor, seeing Yuugi standing there, quite busy with flour and dough.

"Yug," Jou asked. "Dere really are two of ya!"

Yuugi looked back to Yami curiously, and then turned his attention back to his acquaintances from school. "Oh, you mean Yami? I've known him for quite a while. It's nice you two are finally able to meet him." Yami mentally grinned at him. 

Honda seemed to try not to choke on his own tongue. "H-he…is he like your brother or something?"

Yuugi felt his dark spirit blanch inside. What a horrible thought! "No."

"A cousin?"

"No."

Honda was grasping for comprehension. "No relation at all? How do you two look so much alike?"

Yami wondered how Yuugi was going to sweet talk his way out of this one. Yuugi simply shrugged. "You know what they say; everyone has a twin somewhere in the world. I just so happen to have met mine who used to live in Egypt. How about that?" He looked at Jou and Honda and smiled.

: _Smooth aibou, very smooth._ :

: _As if you'd expect anything less. _: A mental wink.

"Oh…uh…I see. Hmm. We was just wonder 'in if ya wanted to go to da arcade with us. But you 's seem kinda busy."

: _Would you mind some company for the evening,_ : Yuugi asked.

: _I have no qualms with that._ :

"Well, if either of you want to grade cheese and chop some ham in the fridge, you two can stay for some of the dinner I'm making."

"Food," Jou asked excitedly. "I'm so there!" Before Honda could protest, the blonde was rummaging through the refrigerator for cheese and ham.

"Pull out the onions, too," Yuugi stated, finishing up with rolling out the dough.

**xxx**

Yuugi released a heavy breath, relishing in the feeling of a full stomach. The rest of the evening had gone exceedingly well, Jou and Honda warming up to Yami nicely. The stuffed pastries turned out delicious, and Yuugi was more than apt to believe that an old adage he knew went more than perfectly well with Jou. _The way to a man's heart is through his stomach._ He had a feeling that Jou would be a good friend from now on. Both teens had stayed well past ten o'clock, only leaving when Ojii-chan ushered them out of the house, telling them to go to bed. Yami was grateful when the peace and quiet returned to their tiny abode.

Yami walked up behind Yuugi, wrapping his arms around the teen's waist. The food Yuugi prepared had been absolutely delicious, and he looked forward to the meals to come. Yuugi turned around in his arms, wrapping his darkness up in a passionate kiss. : _I love you._ :

If Yami had been a cat, he'd have been purring horrendously. A slim leg slithered up his own, winding up silkily. : _Make love to m e, _: Yuugi's mind voice whispered huskily inside his head. : _I want to be with you before you go back into the puzzle tonight._ :

: _As if I could refuse,_ : Yami sent back, falling on top of Yuugi on the bed.

The night lasted even longer than either of them had intended.

**xxx**

Sorry for the delay. Till next time, be aroused, be engrossed, and remember, always enjoy.


	10. Delta Rains

When It's No Longer Cliche

Yami blinked lazily as he gazed at the one next to him. His arm was draped loosely over the other's sheet-covered chest, his fingers feeling the inexplicably soft material as he squeezed it through his fingers. It accentuated Yuugi's curves in sinful decadence.

He wasn't tired at the moment, watching as Yuugi slept on through the Sunday morning sunrise. This didn't surprise him, though. Just a few hours of rest in the puzzle had him back up to full strength again. No, what he felt at the moment could only be explained as haziness.

This also wasn't surprising to him. He may be wide awake at the moment, but Yuugi was still asleep, and with how deeply they were bonded he would always feel hazy or drowsy when Yuugi slept. It was just how things worked.

But, then again, everything revolved around Yuugi. And personally, he didn't want to have it any other way.

Yuugi sighed in his sleep, rolling from his back onto his side and further into Yami's embrace. The ancient spirit could not believe how much he had come to care for the younger one next to him. What would have happened were Yuugi to have landed in the middle of his world when he had still been alive? What kind of ruler would he have been instead? Would he still have been locked into the puzzle?

The puzzle had been a trick. Completely and entirely. One of his senior advisors had proposed the idea of an immortal life for him, with and endless amount of power at his disposal. He _should_ have known that any kind of offer like that couldn't be real. He also should have seen truly how much his underlings despised him. All they wanted was a way to get rid of him, incarnation of their god or not.

The puzzle had been crafted out of gold, to be sure. The finest gold, for this adornment was one that was meant to last for a specific reason. The finest gold, and the finest magi-craftsmen alive. But here is where the secret comes in for the betrayal and conspiracy against the crown-

The puzzle was not meant to be completed. All of the pieces fit together, but if untalented hands attempted to put it together, which the majority of the populace had no such magical abilities, and those that did knew better than to put together strange relics that pulsed eerie vibes of shadow magick, it would simply crumble under its own weight. The puzzle had been made to not hold itself together long enough to put all of the pieces in place.

And the puzzle had to last a long time, in order to serve as a permanent prison for the spirit it housed.

All of this had been revealed to the pharaoh after he had been sealed inside. Chains came out of nowhere and bound him in place. His memories had been stolen from him, his name erased, his ego crushed into shattered crumbs. Ice and darkness and pain coming from devices he could never really see tortured him and hurt him and made him bleed for ages beyond count.

He felt hurt at the deception he had been dealt. But why should he have felt so much pain and regret over that? He knew nobody liked him. He didn't want them to like him. He wanted them to fear him.

Suddenly, the voice of his father chimed mercilessly in his head. _Fear holds this kingdom together. Familiarity breads contempt, and if you let mere peasants overrun you they will eventually realize that they no longer need you, thereby ending the need for a royal family. You'll rot in Duat if you turn soft, child._ This was, of course, at the right bold age of eight, after he had given aid to a slave who had dropped a tray of fruit. The poor girl couldn't help it that she was nearly blind!

But the young prince Atemu had received a lashing for that. He was still crying as his father yelled the importance of fear into his face.

Was that why he was able to turn to Yuugi so readily? Yuugi had a softness to him that not many could ever hope to live up to, no one could deny that. Yami loved the softness, but a part of him was always yelling that it was the softness that he should stay away from, and that was where Yuugi also eluded him. His unbelievable strength. He had a strength and endurance that an athlete would envy. And his will power and stubborn temper only seemed to add to this. Yami had a strange feeling that his own father would have withered under Yuugi's wrath.

Yuugi did not believe in blind faith, nor did he believe that he should follow any path. He would create his own, even if he had to blaze his way through it with the fires of hell. Yuugi was gentle, and yet a pillar of strength. He had the ability to break down, but he also wasn't blind-sided to cause and effect and searching for a scapegoat or looking for comfort. Yuugi waited for the comfort to come to him. And that is where the puzzle's original purpose backfired. It found Yuugi. But Yami was having a hard time defining his new lover.

If anything, Yuugi was provocative.

He had an air about him that exuded confidence without arrogance. Whatever the balance between the two was, Yuugi had found it. He wasn't shy or abashed at seeking his lover's arms, and he wasn't ashamed about any part of him self. It seemed at times that a silent message was being sent from him, simply begging Yami to wrap his arms around that slim waist, get just a little bit closer, take everything about himself and embrace it and give it to him while they make love.

Yuugi was a tower of strength for Yami to lean against, it seamed. Yuugi wasn't afraid of Yami's past, nor did he seem to worry about the future. And unlike any of his underlings in the past, Yuugi wasn't even afraid of incurring Yami's own wrath. In fact, he verbally welcomed it, if it were indeed to come at all. Yuugi refused to live in an illusion, too. He wouldn't stand on unstable ground, appearing to be safe, whilst a pile a snakes lay just beneath him.

But this was where Yami seemed to falter. He was unsure about the future for the both of them. The winds boded a sick warning that nearly made him turn green at times with illness. Something was going to happen to them, and he knew that Yuugi had no idea.

But he couldn't readily account Yuugi as oblivious. The term just didn't fit for his little book worm.

And there was something else that was nagging at him, too.

If the puzzle indeed could not be put together unless the person assembling it had some sort of magickal abilities, then how in the world did his aibou put it together? Did Yuugi's blood contain a power that he just so happened to have overlooked? How would this affect their future? Since their bonding, Yuugi now had shadow magick running through him, even though he didn't know it.

Hell, Yuugi didn't even know about the shadow realm yet, and that was also truly worrying Yami. What would he make of it once he found out?

Perhaps there was a little magick that Yuugi possessed that was entirely separate from the powers of the puzzle and the shadow realm. Yami would have to look sometime and see if he could sense it.

Violet eyes began to blink open, and Yuugi moved his muscles just a little bit, experimentally, just to allow his body to register the fact that he was now awake. His breathing was slow and deep. : _Good morning, love._ :

Yami smiled softly. "Good morning," he whispered.

Yuugi's eyes filled with something akin to sympathy, and yet it was in a way that did not make Yami feel as though Yuugi were looking at him with pity. _: I saw your memory. Of your father, and that little servant girl who had gone blind? It seems that we both had a rather crude upbringing.. : _

Yami snorted, contempt for himself brewing just a little. _: And look who turned out ahead. You overcame your abuse flying on silver wings. : _

Yuugi shook his head. "Don't even begin to beat yourself up about it. Nature versus nurture is an ongoing dispute, and in this case nature won out. You were as unable to control your outcome as a polar bear trying to stay cool in the Carribean."

Yami looked at Yuugi curiously. "Say that again?"

Yuugi smiled. His brains were showing through yet again, and didn't seem annoyed at having to explain what he said. In fact, he looked rather delighted. "The thought of nurture is that parents and adults instill characteristics into their young, and that children learn only what they see. A young child, taught to play the piano at a very young age, will go on to be a pianist."

Yami nodded. "Makes sense. Go on."

"The nature side of it is that some habits people are born with. A child growing up in a wealthy home wants nothing but to be a rebel riding cross county on a motorcycle. In our case, with similar upbringing, it was personality that caused us to turn out the way we did. You had no control in your younger life. The only control I had was the putting together of the puzzle. That is the only real difference between the situations. In a way, you helped me to overcome my environment."

How was he able to do that? Take a situation that ultimately showed Yami as being weaker of character and turn him into his aibou's savior? Gods, he loved that boy so much.

Yami smiled, pulling Yuugi into a much-needed hug. "Give me some more of your quotes, aibou. I do love to hear them."

Yuugi burrowed his face into Yami's bare chest, his soft fingertips running gently over Yami's skin. "_Two weaknesses leaning together create a strength. Therefore the half of the world leaning against the other half becomes firm."_

Yami basked in the mystery that was his lover. "Where is that from?"

"The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci. Quotes on Philosophy." Yuugi planted a soft kiss on Yami's chest. _: I think it fits us. :_

The ancient spirit ran his fingers through Yuugi's hair. He was looking forward to making love again that night. He couldn't seem to be around Yuugi enough. Every moment with him made him feel more important than any gold or jewels he had ever worn. It was difficult just to fathom how much Yuugi meant to him.

_Tap. Tap._

Yuugi turned his head just a little, seeing a few drops of water on his window.

_Tap. Tap, tap, tap, tap._

"It's starting to rain," Yuugi murmured. As if on cue, the harsh downpour started.

"How long do the rains last here," Yami questioned.

"All year," Yuugi replied. "But there aren't any harsh storms like Egypt is used to seeing. We get soft rains and short rainstorms in the spring and summer and cold winters with a lot of snow."

"Snow?" Yami asked curiously.

Yuugi blinked. "You don't know what snow is, do you?"

Yami shook his head. "No, not really."

"Oh, I just realized," Yuugi stated. "The Egyptians also had ten day weeks, didn't they?"

"Yes," Yami replied. "How long are the weeks now?"

"Seven days are in a week now. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Meaning that tomorrow will be our one week anniversary."

Yami sat in silent contemplation. A lot had happened to them in one week. It was so hard to believe.

"We're going to have a current events class today," Yuugi decided. "I'm going to teach you as much as I can today about what's going on in the world. You'll be surprised at the governments that have sprung up over the years, and you'll be amazed at the different inventions that have been created."

"Sounds exhausting," the spirit commented. "I'd rather stay in bed with you all day long."

Yuugi chuckled, running his fingers slowly up and down Yami's spine. _: Lazy old man. : _

Yami laughed. _: I thought I was a dirty old man. :_

Yuugi laughed, too. _: Lazy and dirty! For shame! : _

The rain continued to pound outside, but at the moment neither were paying attention, deciding that a kiss sounded far more interesting than rising just yet.

xxx

"Okay. On to American government. Now, in the States there are two main parties, the Republicans and the Democrats. The idea behind this kind of politics is..." Yuugi looked up at Yami as the spirit slouched into the couch, closing his eyes.

"Yami..."

A snore rumbled past Yami's lips.

"You faker! Wake up!" Yuugi tossed a small pillow at Yami's head, ruffling his spiky hair.

"No."

Yuugi got up from his chair, sat the history book down on the coffee table, and settled himself on Yami's lap by straddling him. "Did I get carried away?"

Yami opened one eye, looking at the other sleepily. "We've gone through thirty five thousand years of history, from cave paintings to the Romans to the American Revolution. I need a break." Yuugi looked at him apologetically. "And food," he mentioned as an after thought.

Yuugi didn't mean to get so carried away. He just really liked knowledge, both learning it and teaching it. Friends looked at him as if he were an alien one day when he said he enjoyed a four hour literature test. He couldn't help it! The readings were good! He kissed his lover's forehead, running his fingers gently through his hair. : _Want to try sushi? :_

"Currently, I'm up for anything."

"Good." He picked up the phone next to the couch and began to dial. "We'll order out. I'd take you out to a sushi bar, but the storm outside has really picked up."

"No complaints here."

Yuugi dialed, placed his order, and gave the address of their establishment. Just as he put the phone back down his grandfather came into the living room, giving his grandson a leery glance. Yuugi cleared his throat, got off of Yami's lap, and curled up on the couch next to him. "We ordered out for some sushi, Ojii-chan. I ordered enough for all of us, if you want some too."

"Sure," Sugoroku nodded. "By the way, I have some fascinating news from Egypt."

Yuugi looked up curious, and Yami listened intently. His curiosity had now been piqued. "What is it?" his grandson asked.

"You remember the donkey that accidently opened up a roof to a burial chamber at the oasis?"

"Sure, they found some forty one mummies there."

"Well, they've done a lot of excavating there. I even had the pleasure to work on some of it whilst I was away, in between the fleet of twelve boats we were digging up. But since I've been gone, they've counted now over two hundred mummies, and they believe that there are more yet to be found. All of them common citizens!"

"Two hundred?" Yuugi asked. "And didn't I read somewhere that they have now found fourteen boats?"

The elder man nodded emphatically. "That's right. The wood has now been identified as cedar from what is now modern day Lebanon. The team wants me to come back and do some more work."

"What about the delta excavations," Yuugi asked. "Has anything else turned up about them?"

Sugoroku gave his grandson a stunned look, and Yami resisted the urge to ask what the hell they were talking about. "How did you know about those," the old man asked bewildered.

Yuugi shrugged nonchalantly. "I read and watch the History channel whenever I get the chance. The bones there they found are well over four thousand years old, if not four thousand five hundred."

His elder nodded. "The texts which are barely discernable on some of the clay pots that were found my original team wants me to decipher. It's slightly different from any of the text found in the Old or New Kingdoms. They think I might be able to find some similarities and discern what's there."

Yuugi looked at Sugoroku imploringly. "So...how long will you be gone?"

The old man walked into the living room, sitting down in the chair Yuugi had been in previously. "Now, that's what I wanted to ask you about. If you would like, you and Yami can come with me. You can do your school studies there, and even get to listen in on some of the lectures at the American University of Cairo."

"Is that where we'll be stationed," Yuugi asked excitedly.

"For the mean time. I'll be going back and forth to the valley quite frequently, and you're more than welcomed to join me."

Yami felt a wave of excitement rush through him, the emotion crashing his way from Yuugi. : _What do you say Yami? Would you like to see what Egypt looks like now? I would love for an opportunity to do some Arabic studies, and learn more of the ancient Egyptian alphabet. :_

What a strange prospect. See the land in which he had been born in, now in modern times? What kind of state was it in at the moment? What did the _ancient_ cities look like now? Was his palace still even there? : _I...suppose. This will be quite strange for me.:_

Yuugi looked at Yami, his eyes gleaming. "Just wait until you see the pyramids of Giza."

"Giza?"

_xxx_

I hope you like. Sorry that it took so long. Yuugi and Yami are now if for the time of their lives as they head off to the cradle of creation.


	11. Le Meridian Heliopolis

(sighs) Well, I must apologize for the extreme tardiness in an update. I'm afraid that most of my plot bunnies had vanished for a while. Not to mention my muse got particularly pushy with a different story. I hope that this chapter meets expectations. Trust me, there _will_ be much more added to this story. Thank you for your patience, and I will do my best to make sure that the update is not this long again. (bows) Thank you.

**When It's No Longer Cliche**

Yami walked into Yuugi's bedroom, noticing how engrossed the teen was in a book as he sat on the edge of their bed. Faintly, he could just make out the title of _'Holy Grail, Holy Blood.'_ He wondered what that was about. It seemed Yuugi was on a different novel every other day. _Enough of this,_ he thought to himself, walking swiftly up to the teen's side. Yuugi had been reading ever since their discussion on modern day Egypt, and that was well over three hours ago.

Well, after dinner, to be more precise. Yami found that he couldn't quite handle that strange green paste that came along with the sushi, but he liked the ginger strips, and he really liked the soy sauce. All in all, it was a fairly decent meal.

But now it was late enough, and Yami wanted some well needed attention. In other words? Yes. He was being a regular male who was thinking about the removal of clothes. _Lots_ of clothes.

Yami snatched the book away, setting it down on the night stand. "Hey!" Yuugi shouted, but before he could respond a hot mouth was pressing urgently against his own. : _I was reading that:_ he sent, but hummed appreciatively.

:_ I know that. But you're already almost half way done with it. Leave yourself something to read tomorrow.: _

Yuugi's hands glided down Yami's sides, coming to rest on his hips, squeezing just slightly, provocatively. He growled when the spirit's hands kept wandering to sensitive areas, then left quickly to find another. :_ Don't tease,_: he ordered.

Yami chuckled into their kiss, pulling Yuugi closer._ : You should learn a bit about the art of seduction, love.: _

_: Is that so? Who's to say I don't already know about a thing or two?_ : Yuugi simply loved being one of those people who could simply read about something to learn it. For some strange reason, the local library had a healthy stock of kama sutra books, and there was always a few sneaking some glances every now and again. Yuugi claimed that it was for the general knowledge. After all, knowledge was power, why be biased against some simply because of the contents?

Yami's clothes were ripped from him, and he suddenly felt himself pinned to the bed. Yuugi was smirking above him. _:You asked for it this time, love.: _

It was the longest, greatest night the old spirit could ever remember.

_x**X**x_

Yami rolled over onto his side, blinking his eyes open groggily as sunlight poured in through the window. A bright red light was viciously glaring at him from the clock on the night stand. The numbers read eight thirty.

He yawned, stretched, and realized the bed was empty. Frowning in thought, he didn't have much time to dwell on the curiosity of where his lover had gone when Yuugi walked into the bedroom, fully clothed and his hair damp from a shower. "Morning," the teen spoke, sitting down in the desk chair and beginning to tie his shoes. "You should get ready to go, our plane leaves tonight. We have a lot to get ready before we can leave"

"Hm..hm.." Stretching his muscles, the spirit sat up, the blankets falling around his naked form. "Now do tell, my sweet innocent, just where you learned everything you did last night?"

Yuugi looked up at him and smirked. "Everything I did has been documented and proven to work. I _only_ look up quality knowledge."

"Is that so?"

Yuugi looked up at him and smiled, placing his foot back on the floor after he'd finished tying the laces. "By the way," he spoke up, "I found something that might interest you. I hope you like it." He grabbed a book off the desk, got up and walked over to the bed. He kissed Yami on the temple as he handed him the book, then walked back over to the closet.

Yami looked at the new item in his hand as Yuugi pulled out a suitcase from the closet and placed it on the bed, starting to pack it with books. He read the title; _Chemistry, a complete guide. _

Chemistry? He opened up the book, looking at the words and numbers written across the pages. _Combustion Reaction, causes and effects. C + O2 - CO2 + H2O_

He flipped the page. _Compound types: Halocarbon, Alcohol, Ether, Aldehyde, Ketone, Caroboxylic acid, Ester, and Amine. _Another page. _Trans-2-pentene. Functional groups- Chemically reactive part of molecule. _

"Try not to drool too much," Yuugi's voice reached his ears, but only just barely. This was fascinating. The air reacted with iron? Is _that_ why all of those spears from the old kingdom kept rusting?

He couldn't wait to read more.

"If you're good," Yuugi stated, stuffing a large amount of socks into his suitcase, "you might get a chemistry set for Christmas."

Yami smirked keenly at him. "Have I told you I love you lately?"

Yuugi chuckled, closing his now enormous suitcase. "Only about ten times a day."

Yami put the book down sadly, wishing he could read more, and got up to get ready. "And what, pray-tell, is Christmas?"

Yuugi's smile broadened. "It's something you'll have to see to understand fully. But, from what I've heard, we'll be spending it in Kentucky this year with some friends of Ojii-san's that own a horse ranch."

"Horses?"

Yuugi nodded wistfully. "I've always loved horses, but rarely ever had the chance to ride them. You'll also get your first taste of snow in Kentucky, too."

"Snow?"

_x **X **x_

Yuugi buckled his seat belt on the plane, sighing deeply as he settled in for the flight. He was excited for their pit stop, which Sugoroku had designated as Athens in their flight plans, so that he could show Yuugi the Acropolis and the temple of Athena-Nike. He could hardly wait.

He didn't jump this time when Yami materialized next to him in the empty seat. He'd gotten very used to it by now. Yuugi was sitting in the middle, Sugoroku an isle seat, and Yami had the window. They didn't bother getting a ticket for him, since all he had to do was hide in the puzzle until once they boarded, and it was with a stroke of luck that the seat next to Yuugi was open. :_Hey:_ he greeted mentally.

Yami smiled at him. _:Hey. Now, this is the airplane, is it:_

_:Yes.: _

_:Just what does it do:_

_:It flies through the air at incredible speeds to get us to where we want to go in a matter of hours, rather than days, weeks, or even months.: _

Yami didn't look like he quite wanted to believe him, but he knew that he was left with little choice.

"Oh, Yami, hello. When did you get there?"

Yuugi and Yami looked over at Sugoroku, who had a slightly spooked appearance on his face. "Just a moment ago, Ojii-san."

"Ah...okay."

Yuugi mentally chuckled, the elder still not used to a solid figure appearing out of seemingly no-where. :_He'll get used to it eventually._:

:_I suppose that he'll have to._:

Yuugi yawned a bit, stretched his muscles slightly, then dug out a book from his carry-on bag. Unfortunately, their flight time was extremely late-hence the term 'red eye flight.' A plane trip at one in the morning tended to leave one's eyes red and sleepy. He couldn't help but notice, however, when Yami pouted a little next to him. _The old bloke isn't sleepy,_ he realized to himself. _Drat! He recharged when he was in the puzzle! Ugh...I was hoping to fall asleep reading this within the next half hour or so. He's going to be bored stiff._ He sighed softly, hardly noticeable. Some things were worth sacrificing, though. He could catch up on his sleep later. After all, he'd have the rest of the school year to sleep in every morning if he wanted to, do his work at his own speed, and immerse himself in Egyptian and Arabic studies. He could stay up this one night. He put his book away, and pulled out a deck of playing cards. "Say, Yami, have you ever heard of a game called 'Go Fish?'"

The spirit turned his head to the side curiously. "No. What's it about?"

Yuugi smiled, pulling out the cards and shuffling them. "It's nothing special, but it at least passes the time..."

_x**X**x_

"Yami! Come and look at this!" Yuugi exclaimed excitedly, running towards a fallen pillar on the ground. The spirit walked up behind him, looking at the ruins that was the Acropolis of Athens. "Do you see this," Yuugi asked happily, running his fingers through the grooves on the aged, decrepit column. "This is called 'fluted.' The ancient Greeks did this because of the fact that they had to put these columns up in pieces. Those lines that went horizontally across the columns were ugly and made them look short, so they put these vertical grooves on them, and it made them look taller, and it hid those unsightly horizontal lines."

"Hm...that's a good idea," he stated, thinking back to the columns that he barely remembered from his own time.

"These columns are Ionic," Yuugi stated. "The oldest form of columns are Doric, and those are completely unadorned, and do not have the ridges on them." Yuugi smiled, picking up a very small rock that fit in the palm of his hand. "Do you think they'll mind if I take a piece of memorabilia with me?"

Yami chuckled. "I don't think they'll miss it."

Yuugi smiled, stuffing the rock in his pocket. "Oh!" He cried, grabbing Yami's hand and running of to another direction. "You have to see the Temple of Athena-Nike! It's _so_ cool! The columns were actually carved into people! Athena, also spelled A-t-h-e-n-e is older text books, was the Goddess of Wisdom, and her symbol was the owl. She was also often associated with Nike, who was the Goddess of Victory. Supposedly, there was an extremely large statue of Athena holding a very small Nike statue in her hand in the large temple."

Yami laughed as Yuugi went on and on about the ancient Greeks. "Yuugi, if you're having fun here, what are you going to do when we finally get to Cairo?"

Yuugi laughed like crazy. "I'll die, for I'll finally have reached paradise!"

Yami laughed along behind him. The teenager became so excited about ancient history, he acted quite like a young child who had just entered a candy shop. It was one of the only times the old spirit saw Yuugi actually let his mask that he held up in society fall. "As long as you're happy, aibou. As long as you're happy."

They did not stay for too much longer. The lag time between flights was only a few hours. After a quick lunch, they hurriedly made their way back to the airport. They'd be landing at Cairo International Airport around three in the morning. Afterwards, they planned on sleeping the rest of the day. Despite all of the flying, though, Yuugi felt more energetic than he could ever remember. He could hardly wait to get to Egypt.

Yami, however, was a little more apprehensive. He wasn't exactly sure what to expect when he got there. Granted, Yuugi would be with him the whole time, and he honestly didn't know if he could handle the shock of five thousand years gone by if the teenager wasn't by his side. However, he was still nervous. _The empire is gone. Egypt was sacked by the Romans, who were sacked by the French, who were sacked by the British, who were then sacked by the Americans. Then there were conventions to put everything right, and somehow the middle east got left out of all of those treaties._ What kind of shape would the ruins be in now? How much had been preserved?

It didn't matter much, he guessed. There was nothing he could do about it now. The only thing he was worried about was making sure there weren't any cursed tombs that were unearthed. There were in fact very few that had ever been truly cursed, and those bad been hidden in such remote places, it was hoped that no one would ever be subjected to finding them.

The flight had landed smoothly. So smoothly, in fact, that Sugoroku did not wake up at first. His head had nodded off as he drifted into sleep, quietly snoring for the majority of the flight. Yuugi's eyes were red and sleepy. Yami was probably the most alert of all of them, and therefore stayed solid when they walked out and headed to the carousel where their luggage was waiting for them.

"I called ahead," Sugoroku stated, yawning. "There's a cab waiting for us outside. Luckily, we don't have to battle traffic too terribly much on Al-Orouba St, because our hotel is located right along there."

"Which one are we staying at?" Yuugi asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Le Meridian Heliopolis," he replied.

Yuugi whistled. "Really? That'll be nice. Better than the Pharaoh Egypt."

"How do you know of the hotels here?" his grandfather asked him curiously.

"It's a little thing called the internet, Ojii-chan. They have previews of the rooms and everything."

The old man simply shook his head. "You kids these days and technology. What ever happened to the good old fashioned ways? Hm?"

Yuugi laughed. "They became crude and outdated."

They walked out of the airport. The night air greeted Yuugi's sense of smell, a fresh new scent in the air he'd never smelled before. It filled him with a slightly exuberance, but it was dimmed due to his wearied state. He yawned, and felt strong arms wrap around his waist. He looked up, seeing Yami give him a slightly sleepy grin. He hardly remembered entering their cab. Somewhere in the depths of his mind, now clouded with cobwebs, Yami seemed shocked at the traffic at three thirty in the morning, but other than that he just knew his grandfather had checked them into their hotel room and they had gone off to bed.

_xxx_

Yami woke up, Yuugi curled up beside him. To him, the hotel seemed a bit superficial in its appearance, but it would certainly work for the time being. There was one plus that he vaguely noticed as he lay still on the bed - there was breakfast waiting for them. _Room service is always a plus._ Yami blinked a little as he looked around. The room he and Yuugi were in was closed off. It seemed they had a suite with multiple rooms. _That_ was certainly nice. He did have a fondness for his privacy. He and Yuugi would not be disturbed at night, and it went the same for Sugoroku.

He rubbed his hand up and down Yuugi's arm. The teenager stirred slightly, and he could feel as Yuugi's muscles stretched with waking. The teenager rolled over, blinked blearily, then smiled up at him. "Good morning," he yawned.

Yami looked at the clock that was sitting on the bedside table. "The clock says it's twelve. Would that still be considered morning?"

Yuugi chuckled, pulling himself up. "Nope. It's noon." He got off the bed and flung the curtains open. Sunlight immediately poured through. "Wow," Yuugi commented. "We're on the eighth floor. How about that."

"Is that a bad thing," Yami asked him.

Yuugi shook his head. "No, I in fact prefer being up. I hate ground level." He sat down, sampling some of the fresh fruit that was on the breakfast tray. "I wonder if Ojii-chan already headed off to Giza this morning. I wouldn't be surprised. Sometimes I wonder if that man ever sleeps." He chuckled. "First stop this morning, AUC."

"AUC," Yami asked him.

"American University of Cairo," Yuugi elaborated. "Afterwards, we're heading to the museums around town. We'll see the Giza plateau towards the evening. Tomorrow, I want to coerce Grandpa to let me go to the delta excavations tomorrow."

Yami yawned loudly. "Sounds like a busy day. And when are you going to start on your homework?"

Yuugi frowned. "Spoil sport."

Yami laughed.


End file.
